Two Kinds of Magic
by Arista Lycoris
Summary: Akemi's parents died in a car crash, she was injured and in a coma for a month. Her uncle Kousuke comes to get her and she gets mixed up in all her cousin Daisuke's problems, one of them being Dark. The strangest thing is, she's a witch. DarkXOC
1. New Family

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

I woke to the sound of a steady beeping, my eyes opening to a blindingly white ceiling. My head hurt, the pain dulled as if something was keeping it far away from me, while my entire body ached, that too seemed distant. It was as if I wasn't in my own body, but I knew I was still looking out through the same blue-green eyes. Looking down I saw a strange vein-like tube inserted into my right arm. An IV.

"Akemi-chan?" a voice came from my left, my eyes swept across the room before finally landing on the source of the voice. A man older than me by more years than he looked was sitting next to me, staring at me worriedly. His dark brown hair messy and spiked all over the place and his eyes were squinted in worry. My dad's younger brother.

"Kousuke-oji…" I whispered, my voice hoarse from disuse. He smiled, relieved and patted my hair, further tangling my black hair, "What's going on?"

He looked at me, the worry only slightly diminished, and as my uncle opened his mouth to say something, a click sounded throughout the room and a door opened. A man in a white coat walked in, looking me over, "Ah, Shirube-san, you've woken up. How are you feeling?"

I looked at the man and finally realized that I was in a hospital and he could be none other than my doctor. The steady beeping rose to a faster pace at my realization and calmed down seconds later. Truthfully, I answered, "Like my head was split open twice over."

"Not quite twice over," he replied seriously, "But you did fracture your skull in the accident."

"What accident?" I asked, eyes widening, heart beating faster.

"_Sensei_…" Kousuke-oji muttered in a warning tone. I looked back and forth from the two men and came to my own conclusion. I had been in an accident, a terrible one. The last thing I could remember was my parents and I going out for dinner as a family for the first time in months. I didn't remember anything past being in the car.

My heart rate quickened again as it dawned on me, I had been in a car accident, "My parents?" I croaked, throat hurting a bit, "What about my parents?"

My uncle turned away from me, unable to meet my face. My heart continued to quicken and I tried to sit up, but he noticed quickly enough to keep me from moving, "Mi-chan." The nickname stopped me, it was the name my father always called me, despite knowing how much I hated it, "I'm sorry…"

"Your parents did not make it through." the doctor said rather bluntly, as though it didn't affect him in anyway, not that it did. My breath caught in my throat, tears springing to my eyes, "You've been unconscious for over a month, when you showed signs of waking up, we called your uncle. Now…" he pulled a small light from his pocket and flashed it into my eyes, one after another, "We need to run some tests."

"It seems that you're physically fine," the doctor told me as I sat on the uncomfortable hospital bed, "There has been no nerve damage, no brain damage. You're quite lucky Shirube-san." I stared at my feet, it wasn't luck, my mother had protected me, I knew it, I could still feel the effects.

"Akemi-chan," my uncle came in through the door, clothes piled in his hands, "I've brought some of your clothes."

"Thanks, Kousuke-ojii…" I murmured, happy that I would finally be able to get out of the damn hospital gown. Hopping off the table, holding the stupid gown shut in the back, I hurried into the bathroom to change.

As I did so, my uncle spoke to me through the door, "You're going to come live with me and my family, I brought them with me today, so you can meet them."

"Ok…" I didn't say much else. From what I knew about my aunt, she was a bit eccentric, as was her father, who would probably be my new grandfather, and only one as of now. I looked at myself in the mirror, fingering the back of my head, feeling the hair that was much shorter than I was used to, the scar was no longer visible, but I could still feel it slightly, the scar from when my head busted open. Anyone would be able to tell where it was, the majority of my hair was down to my waist, but that bit of hair was maybe at my shoulders. It had been two months since the accident and I still remembered nothing.

Turning from the mirror, I looked down at the clothing my uncle had brought me, blue jeans and a plain black tank top. I could just imagine how uncomfortable he must have been to have to go into my room and bring me clothes. He was always such a strangely shy person. I smiled slightly as I tied my hair up, hiding the one area where my hair was shorter.

As I exited the bathroom, I noticed the doctor was already gone and Kousuke-ojii was signing some paperwork a nurse had given him. He looked up and smiled at me, "Feeling alright?"

"As good as I'll ever feel…"

"Thank you Niwa-san." the nurse said as she took the last of the paperwork from him and left the room. My uncle had taken on the surname of his wife's family, apparently at her father's request. I had thought it was old fashioned for the old man to want to keep his family name going on, but my father had kept our name going, not that I would be able to.

"Are you ready?"

"Never am."

He sighed a bit, at both my behavior and from the recent stress. I couldn't blame him, his brother had just died and now he was stuck with taking care of his niece; a well known bother. Talking still hurt, despite the month I had spent undergoing tests to find out if there would be any permanent damage to my body other than the scar that was hidden by my black hair.

I followed him into the elevator and braced myself for the quiet ride to the lobby, not really expecting him to say anything, "Akemi-chan, I'm sorry, this is all I can do for you…" I looked up at him, a little shocked, but I should have learned by now to expect the unexpected from my eccentric uncle, "I really wish there was more I could do, but…"

"It's okay, Kousuke-oji," I laughed a bit at how flustered he looked, "You've done more than enough. I just hope you don't regret it later."

"Why would I regret it?"

"You know I can be a handful."

He smiled, it was a tired smile, but one that was relieved as well, "I think we'll be even after you meet my wife and her father."

The elevator door opened and seconds later I was smushed between my uncle and some woman I didn't know as she made high pitched squealing sounds, "Kousuke-san! Is this her? She's adorable! Hello Akemi-chan! I'm Emiko, your aunt! It's nice to finally meet you."

"Em-Emiko-san!" Kousuke-oji gasped, "P-please let go! She's still injured!"

I took a deep breath as soon as the pressure was removed from my lungs and looked up, wide eyed at my uncle's wife. She was really pretty, and I wondered just how my klutz of an uncle had gotten a hold of a woman like her. Her hair was short, not even to her shoulders and it was a soft brown, and her eyes were only a few shades darker, "For the love of Air…" I gasped.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry, I can get so carried away!"

"Em-Emiko-san…" Kousuke-oji trailed off, an embarrassed smile on his face.

"It's alright," I told her, forcing a smile on my face, "It's nice to meet you too Emiko-oba-"

"It's Emiko-chan young lady!" she interrupted, poking ,e in the forehead, her tone incredibly commanding, "E-mi-ko-chan!"

"Ha-hai…" my eyes were wide in confusion, I'd known she was a little out there, but this was beyond what I'd expected. She smiled widely and dragged me out of the elevator and over to an old man and a kid.

"Hello little miss," the old man said smiling, "I'm Emiko's father, you can call me Jii-chan, that's what Daisuke calls me!" His hair was also spiked but it make my uncle's look tame. As he spoke, his furry beard moved with his mouth, making him sound slightly garbled, but still completely understandable.

"I'm Daisuke," this time it was the kid talking, he seemed nervous and reminded me a lot of my uncle. His hair looked just like his grandfather's only a vibrant red, and his eyes were the same color. I smiled at him a little bit, still unsure about how I should feel. All I really knew was that I was confused as all hell, too much was happening and I couldn't even remember how it started.

* * *

The suffix _-oji_ is an informal and affectionate way to say uncle. _-oba _is the same, ony it means aunt.

_Sensei_ can mean anyone of a specific profession, in the case I used it just now, it means doctor, but it can also mean teacher and it sometimes used for Mangakas by those who help ink the pages.

I would like to get lots of feedback on this! 5 reviews/favorites/alerts or no chapter two!


	2. Flyboy

I sighed as I sat in the room that was now mine, it was next to Daisuke's and I could hear his rabbit 'nyu'ing through the wall. Ignoring the white rabbit's sounds, I opened my window and sat in the sill, looking up at the night sky. According to Emiko-oba, I was going to attend Daisuke's school, starting the day after tomorrow. With a small sigh, I left the window sill and opened one of the boxes in my room that held my school supplies. Taking the scissors in hand, I pulled the tie from my hair, found the strands that were short now because of my wound, and started cutting.

When I went downstairs, Daisuke had already left for school, Jii-chan was out, and Emiko-oba was watching TV with Kousuke-oji. Nervously I ran my fingers through my now shoulder length hair, and cleared my throat loudly to get their attention. Emiko-oba turned around first, and her mouth opened into a small 'o' of shock, "Akemi-chan, your hair!"

"Um… yeah, I wanted it to be all one length, but I messed up, could you fix it for me, Emiko-chan?" I asked uncomfortably. I didn't like called my aunt by the suffix 'chan' it just yelled all kinds of wrong at me. Though, I could understand why she didn't want me adding 'oba' or aunt at the end of her name, it was incredibly close to 'baa' which was grandmother. My aunt stood up happily and forcibly dragged me into the kitchen.

"Kousuke-san, can you go find Tou-san?" she called to my uncle as she sat me down and found some scissors, "Alright, Akemi-chan! Let's make this all one length, or would you prefer layers?"

"Layers sounds nice…" I whispered.

While she was cutting my hair, Emiko-oba chatted happily, trying to get me out of my slightly depressed state, eventually she gave up on finding something I found interesting and turned to what I'd been told was her favorite subject lately, "So, have you heard of Kaito Dark, Akemi-chan?"

"Mhm."

"Kousuke-san tells me you know all about him, or at least all Kousuke-san knows, is that right?"

"Yeah, he told me and my mom a few years ago."

I could feel the smile on her face and was beginning to regret having opened my mouth, "So you know my Dai-chan transforms into him?"

"Yup. Did Kousuke-oji tell you about me and my mother?" I asked, trying hard not to look at her face since she was busy layering the back of my head.

"Yes, this morning actually. Are you as skilled as your mother?" she asked, her tone giddy, as though she was so excited she could hardly contain it. Now I'm not a girly person, but I suddenly found myself afraid for my hair.

"Okaa-san always said I had potential, that I could surpass her one day, but I'm not at that level yet." I answered her quietly, "I can only do small things at the moment."

"All done!" Emiko-oba shouted randomly, handing me a mirror that I didn't know she had. My hair was now in stylish layers and reached my shoulders. It was surprising how she managed to do it so my bangs framed my eyes, making them seem much brighter than they actually were.

"Dai-chan! Come into the kitchen!" I looked up from the soup I was eating, still not ready for completely solid foods. Emiko-oba was yelling at her son, while carrying around a pile of folded black clothing. As soon as Daisuke got downstairs, she started changing his clothes, right there in the kitchen! I looked away and finished off my soup quicker than I'd meant to in my attempt to busy myself.

"Kaa-chan!" He whispered urgently, "What are you doing?"

"Akemi-chan already knows!" she stated brightly, reminding me of a three year old, "Here."

I don't know what she handed him, but a second later I felt the magic in the room spike up and this time a new voice spoke, "So this is the lovely lady?" I turned around to see a different guy standing in Daisuke's place. He was taller than my cousin, more muscular too. His hair was purple as were his eyes, and he seemed to be a bit older than me, by maybe a year or two, "It's nice to meet you."

"This is Akemi-chan! She's going with you tonight Dark! Here! You're stealing the _Kuroi Namida_ tonight!" Emiko-oba continued bustling around doing who knows what while Dark and I stared at her, eyes wide in shock and confusion.

"What?" we asked at the same time, but Dark continued, "I can't take her with me! It's dangerous!"

"It's okay, she knows some magic too, it's great training, right Kousuke-san!"

"Kousuke-oji!" I nearly whined, turning to my uncle, "You know you're my favorite uncle right? Don't make me do this!"

"I'm your only uncle, Mi-chan, and I can't argue with Emiko-san." he turned a bright red when his wife hugged him.

I scowled a bit, "You've been married over fourteen years and yet you still blush every time she hugs you? Emiko-chan, I don't know what you see in him."

My aunt simply giggled and I stood to go upstairs, deciding that bright blue was not the color to go sneaking about in. When I came down stairs, wearing a long sleeved black shirt and simple black jeans, Emiko-oba looked at me disapprovingly, "I'm going to have to go shopping for you. You'll need more stylish clothing to go sleuthing about in."

I stared at her blankly, unable to believe I was actually going to have to do this, but before I could start arguing with her, I was lifted off the ground and carried outside. I blinked rapidly in confusion, Dark's face was inches from mine and he just stood there, smiling down at me, obviously waiting for me to turn red, "Either get me to where we're going or put me down and deal Emiko-oba later, flyboy."

I smirked inwardly when his eyes widened in shock, "Well, aren't you the feisty one."

"I'm just not the type to be taken in by good looks and cheap flattery," I replied as his large black wings lifted us from the ground, "And yes, before you try to embarrass me, I did just call you good looking. No point in denying the obvious."

He smirked, "I like honest women."

I frowned, and muttered a small spell under my breath, causing a little water to fly up from a fountain below us and splash him in the face, "Focus on something else for a while. You're a separate soul in my cousin's body for Element's sake, have a little dignity."

I stood back, away from the intricately crafted sculpture of a woman shedding a single black tear. The statue was made from pure marble, it was almost white, and the onyx tear contrasted with it so greatly, that it stood out like Dark seemed to. One couldn't help but notice that he was carrying someone as he flew into the museum; many people claimed I was his girlfriend. Scoffing slightly at the thought, I watched the phantom thief hold up a black feather and put the artwork to sleep for a while.

"This is too easy…" I murmured, looking around, "Way too-"

"What is it?"

"Someone's here." I replied, looking around once more, moving toward Dark as I did so, "The Air changed."

"How would you know?" his eyebrow arched with his question.

A smirk graced my mouth, "It's a witch thing."

"Dark!" the wall on the far side of the room came crashing down and I threw up a feeble shield to keep any of the debris from hitting Dark and I.

"Akemi-chan, you should get out of here," Dark said smoothly as a blond man flew through the wall, right at the thief. I took one look at the blond man and nodded, bolting for the door. The man had golden eyes to match his hair, and I knew immediately that he was Dark's opposite, even his wings were white in opposition to Dark's black wings. What caused me to run, however, was the sheer magical power that radiated off him. Dark was powerful too, but he kept it contained while the blond let it roll off him in waves.

As I ran, I checked my wrists for the bracelets my mother had given me as a child, just to make sure they were still there. They were simple bracelets, the kind one could buy at the mall for three dollars at the most, but my mom had given them to me when I was four years old, they were special, especially now.

* * *

I'm not going to be a complete review whore, BUT I'm not going to update if there isn't a single review for the latest chapter. Self esteem is just something that is so easily shattered, so I'd prefer it if the whole lot of people who read this story actually review rather than read and leave. Don't just add it to your alert list or favorite list, that's not reviewing and it only gives me more reason not to update -_-

Anyways, yup, Chapter 2 is now here xD


	3. Shopping

"Hey, Daisuke?" I asked, poking my head through the window to his classroom almost as soon as his teacher had left, and grinning when he fell backward, taking the desk with him, "You're showing me around town today right?"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" some kid shouted from the other side of the room before making his way over to me, "And who might this lovely lady be?"

"Saehara! Don't talk to my cousin like that!" Daisuke began getting flustered, his face red from embarrassment and anger. It was kind of cute, for my younger cousin to be defending me.

"He can talk to me however he wants," I said coolly, watching the brown haired kid blush and start looking confident, "But I guarantee I'll only hear him when he talks to me the way I want to be spoken to." His confidence slipped away like water in a child's palms. I smiled a little at the idiot and looked back at my cousin, waiting for his reply, "I wanna go shopping."

"I guess I can take you…" he sighed, looking tired, but who wouldn't be after a battle with a magical time bomb? A look of sudden realization passed over Daisuke's face and I assumed Dark said something, "How did you get here so fast? The bell only rang a little bit ago!"

"Let's just say they all think I'm a ninja now," I replied with a smile, brushing off imaginary dirt from my maroon skirt and the white jeans underneath, "But… what do you know about this… Hiiragi guy?"

"Hiiragi, Shin?" the brown haired kid was speaking again, "What, don't tell me you've fallen for him too!"

"Uh, no," I answered dully, "I just want to know how annoying he's going to be and for how long."

"What do you mean?" Daisuke asked, putting his desk upright and putting all his belongings back in place as students began to file out of the classroom. The school day over.

"Apparently I'm interesting and he wants to get to know me better. Fortunately, I'm not dumb, he's just an idiot who thinks he's hot stuff," I said, climbing through the window so that it would be easier to talk to them, "I want to know how long it will be until he gives up, because at this rate, I'm going to beat him to a pulp."

"Akemi-chan!" Daisuke's eyes widened, "You can't do that!"

"Sure I can," I grinned, "I'll say it was in self-defense. One has to protect their sanity!" My cousin frowned, unhappy with my attitude toward other people. As it was, I had no friends, other than my cousin and I guess Dark fell into that category too, but that was still only like having one friend, considering the circumstances.

As we walked home, he gave me a lecture about how I shouldn't be getting in fights at school, or planning to get in fights at school, his face flustered and annoyed, probably at the other person in his head. Said person was also probably laughing at my poor cousin for worrying too much, but neither of them really knew what I was capable of. Sure they knew I could use a little magic and could run pretty fast, but they didn't know that I was good at fighting too.

"Let's get out of these stuffy uniforms and go!" I said with a smile, running up the stairs with a gracefulness that Daisuke could never manage, I was up the stairs in less than two seconds and I didn't trip! Something my clumsy cousin never would have been able to do. I also heard him mutter for Dark to shut up, so I guessed the phantom thief had said the same thing I had just thought.

"I'll tell Kaa-chan first."

Emiko-oba must have been psychotic, "You're crazy!" I decided as I stood in the kitchen with an unhappy Kaito, "Emiko-chan! There's no way I'm going shopping with that pervert! Besides, he can't go out in the middle of the day!"

"She's got a point Emiko, I don't want to get busted." for once Dark and I agreed on something.

"But it's so much safer for Akemi-chan to go with you rather than Dai-chan!" my aunt exclaimed happily as she busied herself with pretending she was busy, "If anyone tries to do anything to my precious niece, Dark can easily defend her!"

"I can defend myself and Daisuke," I muttered, crossing my arms, but finally sighed, "But whatever. Let's go, Dark. Wear a hat or something."

I was out the door before he could argue, and with a few more prods from Emiko-oba, he came outside wearing a hat, and fell into step beside me, scowling a little, but still visibly happy to be the one in control of the body he and Daisuke shared. After a few moments he looked over at me and asked, "Why did you give in so easily?"

"I'm not going to argue with Emiko-oba, Kousuke-oji, or Jii-chan much," I replied, staring straight ahead, having no idea where I was going, "I'm already enough trouble as is." As I spoke, I absentmindedly played with one of the six bracelets on my right wrist, there were seven more on my left, "They took me in after the accident… I'm not going to cause them trouble. At least, not anymore than I can help."

"And that's why you're planning to beat up some kid at school?" he asked, joking a little bit, but the question was one that was meant to be answered.

"That's why I asked how long it would take for him to give up," I replied, "Before, I would have broke his face the second he offended me, and he did that in the first sentence he spoke to me."

"Really?" he smirked as we reached the trolley and climbed in, "What did he say?"

"Why?"

"So I know what not to."

I laughed a little, relaxing slightly, maybe hanging out with Dark wouldn't be so bad, "He said something like, 'How would the little honey like to spend some time with this good looking bee?'" I had mimicked his voice too, making it sound even funnier, the best part was I somehow managed to keep a straight face, "I told him I wasn't going to be his whore and then jumped out the window."

"Aren't the high school classes on the second floor?" he looked down at me with a hint of a smile playing on his face, "Is that why you told Daisuke your class thought you were a ninja?"

With a small nod I replied, "Pretty much, but it's not like it's hard. The only reason people break bones when jumping out the second story window is because they don't know how to land." I looked up the see the phantom thief laughing at me, not incredibly hard and it wasn't an insulting laugh, but it sounded like he thought what I said was funny, "What?"

"I thought that kind of training was a Niwa thing," he replied with a grin, "Your parents taught you that?"

"Yeah…" a moment later his smile was gone and I was busy staring out the window. The sudden reminder of my parents hit me hard, once again I found myself blinking back tears, I couldn't cry, my mom had always said tears for the dead were always wasted.

"I'm sorry…"

I shook my head a bit, still unused to the feeling of my new hair and realizing it when it shook with me, "It's not your fault. You didn't mean to." He opened his mouth to say something, but the trolley stopped and I stepped off, calling back to him, "Emiko-oba made you come here to be my knight in shining armor, but if you fall behind like that, I'm going to end up saving myself, so let's go."

"Why so many pants?" Dark asked, carrying some of my bags, mainly filled with white or maroon colored jeans, "And almost all the same two colors?"

"Because there's nothing about wearing pants that match the colors of the uniform in the dress code at school," I grinned a bit, forcing him into a bookshop with me, "I've always thought that uniform schools are sexist, so I refuse to wear skirts because of it, that and I don't like skirts, they're annoying to move around in."

"Your last school wasn't a uniform school?"

"Nope, some of the preparatory schools for the really smart kids don't require uniforms because the students are considered smart enough to know what to and not to wear. There's still a dress code to follow, and I've broken that a few times."

He looked me up and down, a playful smirk appearing on his lips, "Really?"

"Yup, it's called attaching chains to your pants. Chains are considered a weapon and against school rules, what they don't seem to know is that if you can kill someone with a wad of paper, why ban chains?" I laughed a bit and made my way through the sections of the bookstore before finding the books I was looking for. Most of them were somehow related to magic, and I began to browse for certain authors.

"You know none of that will work, right?" Dark asked uncertainly as I continued looking, "It's all fake."

"Just most of it," I whispered back with a small smile plastered to my face, "Some of these authors knew what they were writing, I just have to find those ones." I found two books, walked over to the cashier, paid for the books, and followed my escort outside, "There may not be many of us left in the world, but there are some. Even fewer of those some reach out toward people with no one to train them."

Dark looked thoughtful for a few seconds, but then he frowned, "Wait here a moment."

A second later he was gone. I stood there, confused, wondering if he had sensed something I hadn't, so I expanded my senses a bit, but nothing. With a small sigh, I leaned against the wall, knowing Emiko-oba would get incredibly angry with me for returning without Dark. Of course, moments after my knight's departure, I was in need of his assistance. Two relatively hideous guys approached me, they must have thought they were good looking or something because they stood directly in front of me and said, "Hey sweetie, waiting for us?"

Now I'm not one for incredibly girly quotes, but I couldn't help myself, "As if." I knew the 'go away' tone was voiced clearly, but apparently the idiots either didn't pick up on it, or simply decided to ignore it; sadly the first option seemed to be right.

One of them leaned over me, putting a hand on either side of my head, as if he were trying to box me in. I kept my face blank and simply looked up at him boredly. His smirk grew, "Can't get away babe."

"Oh no," I replied blandly, "I'm so scared! Someone help! A repulsive man has gotten too close! Oh no!"

"Hey! You got something to say? Why don't you spit it out!" his friend replied, heavily accented and his words slurring. He obviously wasn't from this part of Japan.

"I believe she just did." I looked over the man's shoulder and saw Dark and he did not look happy, "Damn, Akemi-chan, I leave you alone for a minute and you're already in trouble?"

"Mhm," I replied, smiling at him before ramming my fist into the gut of the man in front of me and ducking under his arm before he could fall, "You're just beginning to see that I'm a magnet for trouble."

* * *

I is updating because I got lots of hits today! 47! On all my three stories combined! So yeah, I decided to update all of them because of that. And I'm sick right now... so review, or I dunno what else. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually, and it will be along the lines of not updating. I'm sure there's at least ONE person out there who doesn't want that. So yeah... REVIEW PLEASE!


	4. It's Just a Bad Day

"I can't believe you got into a fight! I left for five minutes!" Dark was shouting at me as we were on the return trip.

With a shrug I replied, "It wasn't a fight, they were hitting on me and I didn't like it, so I talked back. Like idiots, they thought it was a trick because like idiots they thought they were attractive."

"Wait… they came up and-"

I cut him off, "Treated me like I was a whore looking for some easy cash. Nice to know you think I'm a juvenile delinquent, I didn't think you were so sharp."

He sighed, exasperated, "That's not what I meant!"

"But it's what I meant," I laughed slightly at the confused look on his face, "I used to be a juvenile delinquent, I would get in fights all the time. Got arrested a few times. Without accompanying you on your escapades, I already had a little record of my own."

"Um… why?" he asked, "Daisuke wants to know too."

"It's a witch thing. When our powers begin to first manifest, we do drastic things. It varies with each of us depending on the element we have the strongest bond with. My mother was bonded with water more so than the other elements and ended up having the bitchy attitude that made dumping glasses of water on people's heads seem cool. Of course, we grow out of it at some point. Some more quickly then others."

"And you? He asked with a raised eyebrow.

I grinned at the phantom thief, "I'm a late bloomer."

"I meant what element," he grinned, lightening up. It was good that he was no longer pissed about something that was entirely out of my control. If he had kept yelling at me, who knows what I could have done.

"I never specialized in a specific element. My control of all of them is equally weak, I'm not much more than a normal human," I looked away, staring at the sky, wondering what exactly he was going to say. Dark had been good at what he did, always had been from what I could tell, but even with the magical blood I had running through my veins, I was nothing more than a human with slight magical ability.

"Do you control them better than someone who hasn't undergone that manifestation thing?" I turned back to see the interested look on his face, and nodded slightly in answer, "Wouldn't that mean you specialized in all of them then?"

"That's what Okaa-chan said, Otou-chan too." he grinned as if he had been right, but I shook my head with a sigh, "Those are just words to comfort the wounded pride of a child."

"Sometimes you sound like you're older than you actually are," he sighed, patting my head in a friendly manner, but it seemed like something was bugging him, he wouldn't look at me.

"_**Dark, leave my cousin alone."**_

"_Calm down Daisuke, I'm not hitting on her am I?"_

"_**No, but you're thinking about her all the time! She's my COUSIN!"**_

"_And I'm in your body, yes I get it."_

"_**No, I don't think you do, Dark! You can't fall for her."**_

"_I know damnit."_

"You're making faces." I muttered, walking ahead of the thief without looking back to see if he was following me. I had a feeling that Daisuke was talking to him about something.

"Akemi-chan!" I looked up from my desk, I had fallen asleep again, but this class was behind my old school, even though I had been hospitalized for two months, then moved; frankly I was slightly amazed at the slowness of this particular class.

Unfortunately, I should have pretended to be asleep despite hearing the annoying voice call out to me. The person standing in front of me was none other than Hiiragi-san. The annoying guy who seemed to think all the girls would fall for him if he so much as winked. He was good looking, that could not be denied, but I'd seen better, hell I'd dated better. His hair was dyed a light brown to match his eyes and was styled in the same messy way all the high school kids in dramas had their hair. His face looked strong, but I could see the mischievous look in his eyes.

"I don't recall giving you permission to be so friendly with me." I muttered darkly, having not had much sleep the night before. Emiko-oba had made me go out with Dark for another steal, the blond guy hadn't even shown up, all I got to do was distract some guards with a bit of fancy fire magic. Nothing big.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked, disregarding my comment completely. With a sigh I truthfully shook my head. I knew the whole reason he continued to hit on me, it wasn't because he liked me, it was because I had reacted differently to the way he looked than anyone else had. Everyone else fawned over him, all the other girls were crazy for him, as long as a certain 'Kaito' wasn't the subject of the conversation.

Luckily I was saved when my cousin opened the classroom door, an annoying reporter kid in tow, "Akemi-chan, Kaa-chan wanted us home early."

"Alright," I replied, standing and gathering my things before heading over to the door, Hiiragi-san annoyingly following.

"I thought you said you didn't have a boyfriend," he muttered looking at Daisuke suspiciously.

"I don't. Daisuke is my cousin, not that it's any of your business." I let my annoyance drip my from my voice like a venom, hoping like hell that this stupid 'pretty-boy' would leave me the hell alone, but he grabbed my wrist as I walked off, "Leave me alone."

I jerked my hand free and sped up, when I looked back to see how far behind my cousin had fallen, I saw Hiiragi following me and he didn't look too happy about me blowing him off. So, in complete and utter annoyance, I escaped through the window, by the way, we were on the second floor.

"Akemi-chan!" Daisuke wheezed when he caught up to me at the trolley station, "Who was that guy?"

"That was the guy whose arm I'm going break if he touches me again," I muttered unhappily, stepping into the crowded trolley. My mood did get any better when I developed a headache from being jostled around in the **loud** trolley.

"Did something happen today Akemi-chan? You're in a really bad mood." my cousin's red eyes looked at me worriedly, it was weird, he seemed to think he needed to take care of me and I was older.

"Sorry, I'm just tired," I mumbled, "There's more to it than that… but I don't feel like talking about it."

Daisuke nodded in understanding as I turned to look out the trolley window, a few trees rushed by and my headache was only getting worse, but it was partially my fault. I hadn't been able to sleep last night and used a bit of fire magic to energize myself a bit since Fire is the most active element, but there was a slight mishap and I ended up making myself irritated rather than energetic. Leading me to believe that the spell hadn't been effective at all and my magic was just weak, another thing that pissed me off.

As soon as we were off the trolley, I let out a small sigh of relief, there had been too many people too close together in there and it was a pain in my… arse. Daisuke walked next to me and after a while said quietly, "Dark and I want to know what that 'more' part is."

I laughed once, "Of course you would. I messed up on a magic spell this morning and it's making me a little more irritable than normal, or not working at all and that makes me a bit more irritated than normal. It's really annoying to know I'm like… the weakest witch in the world."

"Akemi-chan, you're not we-"

"Yes, I am, Daisuke. I don't like it, but I've accepted it. Can we leave it at that?"

* * *

I get such wonderful reviews for this story ^-^

I thank you all so much and keep it up, in case my forgetfulness gets the better of me and it slips my mind. It has with many things, happening with a fan fiction is no surprise =3


	5. Sweet Nightmares

I lay down on my bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, my head pounding viciously. Due to my headache and slightly bad attitude, Emiko-oba had told me to go to sleep early instead of going with Dark for another theft. Of course, that didn't mean I would actually go to sleep. Instead, I unpacked a small ceramic bowl that I had made in the first grade and emptied a bottle of water into it. Water was the most calming of the six elements, it was also the healing element, if I was going to make my headache go away, this would be the way to do it, not prescription pain killers from the hospital.

With a sigh, I relaxed, clearing my mind as best I could, pushing the pounding back until it was nothing more than a dull throbbing pain. I focused on the water before me, ignoring the sounds of the television coming from downstairs as Emiko-oba and Jii-chan watched Dark's theft. Finally I was focused enough and began to speak some words of power, "_Shrikla kamnus toj kir altof fir Gramatus holumni. Furtim caslitu monarko vulni._" I felt the water as it began to rise and fall with my steady breathing, as it began to sway side to side with each beat of my heart, "_Calur fom kytran molnm, Gramatus soulviti maramna khan galfintgh yslanti omiturgaf dratilica._" The water rose from the bowl, sliding up my arm, to my shoulder, making its way around my neck and dissolving into my hair, "_Gramatus coplirtuy falamiu._"

Moments later the dull throbbing in the back of my head began to subside slowly. Using Water magic to cure a headache was something even someone who manifested in Fire could do, if I had messed up on this, I probably would have beat the crap out of myself, quite literally. Of course, I was saved by the fact that I had done it before multiple times since I was seven, before I had manifested. Of course, that meant nothing, most witches displayed incredible power before they manifested in one Element. That's because as a child, one is close with all the Elements, the younger one is, the more spiritually and magically aware they are, especially with witches. I couldn't do anything to change my mood however, so I decided sleep was a good idea. The magic that I had just done wasn't draining, but because it was a headache that was healed, it made me sleepy.

I placed the bowl on the floor, just far enough away from my bed that I wouldn't wake up and step on it, but not so far away that I actually had to get up. With the disappearance of my massive headache, came a slightly better mood, goes to show how much pain affects people. Sighing contently, I lay my head down on my pillow and closed my eyes, letting sleep encompass me. It only took a few minutes for me to drift off.

"_Akemi!" my mama called, "Akemi! Come on! We have to go now, or your father will throw a fit! You know how he gets when something has to wait!"_

_I laughed, my papa was incredibly impatient, he could do things slowly and be fine with that, but if he had to wait, he started to get annoyed and frustrated, it was actually adorable because he seemed like a two year old in the body of a thirty-nine year old. Despite my laughter, I ran down the stairs, tying my hair up into a messy pony tail as I did so._

"_Come on sweetie, we're going to that cake shop after dinner, the one that you and your father like so much." She grimaced at the thought of sugar, Mama was diabetic, she couldn't have much sugar, so papa and I would eat enough for her. It was amazing that Papa was still in shape, with all the fatty foods he ate, any other man his age would be pot-bellied and waddling, but Papa was still skinny. I was like Mama, a witch, my magical energy ate all the excess food, so I needed to eat a lot to keep up with it or I'd get too skinny._

"_**Hey! Wake up! Hey!"**_

_Mama smiled at me as we climbed into the car and Papa sighed exasperatedly, "Why does it take you so long to get ready?"_

"_It's not that it takes us a long time Papa! You just hate waiting!" I laughed happily. My parents were so fun to be around, to tease, to love._

"_Mi-chan is right dear, you were only waiting for about two minutes!" Mama scolded him._

"_**Akemi-chan! You need to wake up!"**_

_I frowned, for some reason it felt as though something were wrong. There was something in the back of my mind yelling at me, telling me to wake up, but I wasn't sleeping. Ignoring the thought, I buckled myself into the car and got ready for the ride. We pulled out of the driveway and Papa took the side streets, wanting to avoid the packed freeway._

"_**She won't wake up!"**_

"_**Dark, use a feather!"**_

_Suddenly Papa hit the breaks, through the window I could see bright lights heading toward us, I screamed._

"Hey!" This time the warning was clear, when I opened my eyes, I could see Dark looking at me with concern written all over his face, Emiko-oba, Kousuke-oji, and Jii-chan were all standing with him, all staring at me. My face felt wet, and I realized I had been crying, but I couldn't remember why. Dark opened his mouth and said something, but I didn't hear him, instead of I closed my eyes again, pushing the dream from my mind, maybe I had messed up with the healing and accidentally called back the memories I had forgotten, or maybe that was why my head hurt in the first place.

After a minute, I wiped the tears from my eyes and opened them again, looking up at Dark and my family, none of them had moved, but I could hear them now. It was as though my mind had blocked them out earlier, "Akemi-chan! Are you alright?"

With a small nod, I whispered, "Yeah… gomen Kousuke-oji, minna. I just… had a nightmare… about the accident…"

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Emiko-oba pushed everyone except for my uncle out of the room, following them soon after. Now that I was sitting up on my own, I realized that my headache was still gone, but the immense sadness that was washing over me, was not, if anything it was stronger, "Mi-chan, are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," I repeated, "It was just a bad dream…" laughing nervously I whispered, "I thought I'd grown out of those a long time ago…"

"No, it's not that you haven't grown out of them, Mi-chan. It was a bad accident, you… you're remembering what you've forgotten," Kousuke-oji pat my head affectionately, a pained smile on his face, his eyes hiding something, "You can talk to any of us about anything, ok?"

Rubbing my face again to get rid of any salty years I had missed before, I nodded, "Ok."

"Even Dark," he whispered, winking at me when I looked up at him, confused, "He's been through his fair share of pain. He can probably help more than any of us."

"What about you, Kousuke-oji?" I asked, my voice still nothing more than a hoarse whisper, "He was your brother…"

My uncle's pained smile never faltered, he'd been incredibly close with my father, they hadn't fought much as children and even as adults they were still close. Kousuke-oji would call twice a week to keep in touch with him. Now he was gone, so was his wife, all that was left of my family was me, and now Kousuke-oji and his family were stuck taking care of a troublemaking girl with nowhere else to turn. I hated that I was being a burden on them, absolutely hated it, and I hated myself for being that burden. Kousuke-oji just gave me a quick hug and said, "It's ok, Kinsuke wouldn't want me to be upset because of it. He wouldn't want you to be upset because of it either, and neither would Lina-san."

"Akemi-chan?" it was an hour after Kousuke-oji had left me to sulk in my room alone. The door opened slightly and bright red hair peeked in from the slim crack, "Are you feeling better?"

I nodded weakly, sitting up in my bed, "Yeah, sorry for worrying you Dai, and Dark, if he's awake."

Daisuke grimaced slightly, "He is… he says you should be thanking him instead of apologizing. He broke you free of the dream you trapped yourself in."

"That's what I get for doing magic before bed," I mumbled, "Thanks Dark, and you Daisuke, for being the little messenger, but you should probably go to bed, or you'll be sleeping all through class tomorrow."

"Are you sure you're alright?" he repeated, walking in and sitting on my bed next to me, "You were crying and yelling…"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Really… or, I will be," I smiled weakly at my cousin, "It's hard…"

"I'm sorry," he whispered, following his dad's example and giving me a quick hug, "If you ever need to talk, I'm willing to listen, okay?"

"Alright Daisuke," I hugged him back slightly, careful not to hug him too tightly so that he wouldn't get embarrassed. Who knew what Dark could be saying in his head right now, but I could narrow it down to a few things, the Phantom Thief was probably being annoying.

"_**How come you get to hug her and I don't?"**_

"_Because she's my cousin and I'm not perverted like you."_

"_**Oh, shut up Daisuke. Just go to sleep or I'm going to take control and make you ditch school tomorrow."**_

"_You wouldn't… never mind, you would…"_

"_**Damn right I would!"

* * *

**_

=3

Feedback please! I'm updating today because I won't be on Friday, that be meh birthday!


	6. Nothing to Say

I was in a much better mood when I woke up in the morning, more like myself as well. Emiko-oba had been determined not to let me go to school, but when I told her I needed to make sure I got good grades as well as take care of a possible sexual offender, she let me go, arguing with Kousuke-oji, Jii-chan, and Daisuke about what weapons I should be allowed to carry to school that day. In fact, I was in the perfect frame of mind to deal with that idiot Hiiragi, I wasn't pissed off, so with some luck, I wouldn't have to actually hurt him.

As soon as I entered the classroom, he walked right over to me, "Why'd you blow me off like that yesterday?" He sounded pissed, so I looked up, as he was a bit taller than me, and could clearly see the anger he held because of my rejection.

With an almost innocent smile, I spoke loudly enough for the entire class to hear, at least, those that were already there, "Because you were being annoying, Hiiragi-san. It was bad enough that I had a headache, but then you came over making it worse trying to get me to date you! I'm sorry, but that's just not going to happen, I don't date man-sluts." in the last few words of my sentence, my voice stopped being sweet and innocent, and instead held and undercurrent of pure, unbridled rage. Rage that only he could hear, and that caused the idiot to back off a little.

Happily, I returned to my desk, and waited for class to start. After a few minutes of waiting in silence, one of the girls in the classroom came over to me. I fully expected to be yelled at by a fan girl, but instead she beamed brightly, as if my words to Hiiragi had made her day, if not her week, "Shirube-san? Do you know what you just did?"

"Um, I told an idiot off in front of all his friends and all the girl's whose pants he's been trying to get into for longer than I've been here?" I asked, stating what I thought I had done. This girl was confusing me, but she seemed nice enough. Her dyed blond hair was pulled back into a quick ponytail, her green eyes lit up happily as though the most entertaining thing in her life had just played out before her.

"You just gave everyone proof that he's nothing more than a dirty, stupid, idiot head!" she was practically gushing, I swore I could see stars appearing in her eyes, and she was acting as though she idolized me, it was getting somewhat freaky, "Oh, I'm Zimura, Kimiko by the way, but you can call me Kimi-chan."

"Okay…?" I began slowly, still processing all the information she had just spouted, "You can call my Akemi-chan then, but… could you explain my act of heroineism because I have no idea what you're talking about."

She grinned again, sitting down in front of me and began to explain that Hiiragi had been doing to every other girl what he had been doing to me, and almost every other girl fell for him. Kimi-chan was saved because she had known him as a child and he wasn't going to try anything on her that could result in possible embarrassing blackmail. So, every other girl in the class had pretty much had their hearts broken by the butthead, but no one was willing to admit that he hit on every girl, even the girl's weren't going to admit that he was hitting on other girls. Why? Neither I nor Kimiko had any idea, but I guess it was because they were being stupid.

So, by telling him, very loudly, that he was never going to get with me, that there was absolutely no way he would ever even have a chance and by calling him a male slut, I proved what they had all been denying, thus ruining Hiiragi's life accidentally. I had just planned to wound his worthless pride a bit, but instead I made it so that he would never get a girlfriend as long as he stayed in Azumano.

"Isn't this bad?" another girl had wondered over, "I mean… Hiiragi-san has a lot of friends, and he might want vengeance or something."

"Eh, his social life is ruined, whatever friend's he does have after this, I'm sure I can handle," I grinned. The new girl had already introduced herself as Yamazaki, Mizuho, but she wanted me to call her Mizu-chan. I got the feeling that these two would end up being my best friends, the sad thing was I also knew what that entailed. I could have best friends, but there was more that I would be forced to hide from them than I would be allowed to tell them.

"But… what it they're gangsters or something?" I looked up at Mizuho, her eyes were probably how she got her name, they were as blue as the element itself, but her hair was dark brown. I was wondering just how strange of an area this Azumano was, if really attracted as many tourists that decided they wanted to live there as I thought it had. There were so many people who had distinctly European features, and yet had Japanese names. I was confused, but I let it go, it was better just to have the friends than wonder just what races they were.

"Gangsters?" I questioned, "They have that here?" Kimi-chan nodded, laughing a bit at my surprise, "Eh, I can handle some gangsters. I can fight with the best of them."

Once again, when class ended, Daisuke came to the classroom to get me, this time he brought two girls with him, they were obviously twin's, but just by looking them over I could tell I would like the short haired one more, she seemed less… girly. Daisuke introduced me to them and vice versa, the short haired girl was Harada, Riku. Her hair reached her shoulders in somewhat of a bob cut that was a bit shorter in the back than in the front, her hair was a reddish brown. Her eyes were the same brown as her younger twin sisters, but the younger twin had much longer hair, reaching just past her shoulders, her hair was a chestnut brown, and a little of it was tied back with a ribbon.

"Akemi-chan! It's time to go home, or we'll be late."

"Did Emiko-oba give us some ridiculous time to be home again?" I asked, shoulders slumping slightly.

Both he and his friends laughed slightly at my reaction and the one named Riku spoke first, "Niwa-kun said something about that one time."

Grinning I straightened, happy that I was taller than all three of them, it made me feel big, "Emiko-oba is really precise when it comes to time!" After a slight pause I said, "Don't tell her I called her Emiko-oba. She wants me to call her Emiko-chan, but for some reason that's uncomfortable for me to do."

Our group of four walked out of the school and that's where we separated. Daisuke and I didn't have anything to do after school while the twins had clubs they were in. I swear Risa, the other twin, was like the undeclared leader of the Official Dark Fan Club. I knew there was one at the school because of something that Mizuho had said. It was really weird when your friends were talking about some guy you saw in person on a daily basis. I had to pretend that I was at least slightly interested in his 'mysterious' nature, it was hard though, I hated lying and… Dark wasn't exactly mysterious to me.

After we parted ways, Daisuke and I told each other what had happened in each of our classrooms, he happily told me he had a normal day, so I had a lot more fun watching his facial expressions as I explained how I totally ruined one guy's life and made almost every girl in my classroom happy with me. Most of them were too scared to admit it according to Kimiko, but who cares, hopefully that idiot Hiiragi would leave me alone. My loving cousin, however, was much more worried about the gangster comment that I accidentally let slip, but I told him I would be fine, after all, it's not like I went out by myself, Emiko-oba was much to worried about my femininity to let me do something as dangerous as that.

"Seriously Daisuke, calm down!" I laughed as he opened the door to the house, "It's not like he's going to do anything. The guy is a wimp."

"But I'm still worried!"

"Go ahead and be worried then, but you don't have to be," I sighed a bit as we removed out shoes and found everyone sitting in the living room, unfortunately with police officers. Daisuke paled, but then I noticed the badges on their uniforms, they weren't Azumano police, they were from my city.

"Is this Shirube, Akemi-san?" one of the uniformed men stood and approached me. Kousuke-oji stood at the same time, standing in front of me as if guarding me from the police officer.

"Yes, this is she." I responded almost on reflex, "Is something wrong?"

"Officer, I really don't think this is the ti-"

The policeman cut my uncle off, his tone cold and harsh, but at the same time businesslike, "I'm trying to do my job here sir. And this young lady has the right to know what really happened that day."

Just like when I was in the hospital, I came to my own conclusion, this was about the accident, this was about my parents… oh Elements… it hadn't been an accident. My eyes widened and my heart began beating rapidly, "What so you mean what really happened?"

"Shirube-san," the officer began, completely ignoring my uncle and family, "Do you know of any reason a person may have had to want your parents dead?"

* * *

T^T Like the title, I just really... having nothing to say right now!


	7. Broken

Of course I knew reasons why people would want my family dead, but none of them would be accepted by the police and I knew that. Thinking on a purely non-magical level, there was absolutely no one who so much as hated my parents, they were well liked by everyone, except for a few people from their high school days, but nothing they had done then could hardly warrant wanting them dead now. My mother had even made amends with all the people who she'd dumped water on during her manifestation period.

So, to answer the policeman, I shook my head slowly, "No… no one… why do you think they were…" I couldn't bring myself to say the word, not about my own parents.

"All we can say for now is that something was wrong with the vehicle, something that was purposefully wrong." Moments later the cop and his two companions left the house, leaving me standing there, eyes wide, mind reeling. I knew why my parents were dead, I knew, but I couldn't bring myself to even think what had done that to them. Why my father too, why Papa? He'd done absolutely nothing wrong… was it because he knew about magic and that's why they targeted his car rather than my mom's? Or was it because they knew we would go out for dinner together as a family when we had the chance.

Before I even knew what was going on, Emiko-oba was hugging me, much more gently than she ever had before, saying she was sorry. Kousuke was patting my head reassuringly, telling me everything was going to be alright, but I knew it wasn't. After what felt like forever, Daisuke led me up to my room, smiling sadly, but trying to be comforting at the same time. Everything was just happening so fast, my eyes were still wide, I never even remembering climbing the staircase.

"_**Daisuke… do you think she actually does know something?"**_

"_How could you say that Dark?"_

"_**What if she does know something… something she can't tell the police."**_

"_What do you mean? Why wouldn't she be able to tell the police?"_

"_**Think about it Daisuke, what if it has something to do with her mom being a witch? With Akemi-chan being a witch. Do you really think she's going to be able the police that her parents were murdered because of magic?"**_

"_I see what you mean… We can ask her later, right now…"_

"_**I know… she seems broken."**_

"_Yeah… and she was having a good time earlier too. I feel sorry for her."_

I stared at the ceiling again, this time it was different. Instead of seeing nothing but the ceiling, my mind was playing images in front of me. I could see my parents on the ceiling, doing all the strange yet loving things they did as parents.

"_Akemi-chan! How many times have I told you, you're not allowed to light your homework on fire!"_

"_Akemi! Can you start the fire in the fireplace while I get out the marshmallows and stuff for s'mores?"_

"_Kousuke! It's been a while! How are you? How's your family!"_

"_The Phantom Thief Dark huh? Amazing, we both have some strange attraction to magical women!"_

"_We're witches sweetie."_

"_Our family dates back to before even the Salem Witch Trials in America. We've got an old an powerful magic, yours could possibly be the strongest."_

"_Hey girly, let's go get some cake! We won't tell Mama, she might get mad at us."_

"_You got a boyfriend? Who is this young man! Papa needs to knock some sense into him if he thinks he can date __**my**__ baby!"_

"_Akemi, you can never take these bracelets off."_

"_You're a lot stronger than you think you are."_

"_You're my baby girl! Papa will always be there for you."_

I could feel the tears pricking my eyes as I thought about my parents and how I would never see them again, never hear them again. I never thought I would miss them picking on me, claiming I needed a boyfriend, but couldn't have one. That no one was good enough. I was the best. I wouldn't be able to see them smile ever again, I wouldn't be able to eat cake and sweets with my father, I would be able to practice magic with my mother. It was all too much, and I could swear I heard something breaking deep inside me.

My door opened, but I didn't move, it hardly mattered who opened the door, who was coming in. My memories of my parents were all I had left of them, I would cherish them while I could. I didn't want to break from my thoughts, but a familiar voice spoke softly, "Hey."

Turning my head, I saw Dark was sitting on the edge of my bed, looking down at me. Worry laced his features, as if it were possible for a four hundred year old spirit to still care for a kid who lost her parents. It would have made me angry before, but now… now I was just too lost to care. Finally I managed to croak out a, "What."

"I'm sorry, Akemi-chan. I know that's not what you want to hear, but…" he sighed, running a hand through his relatively long purple hair, "It's really all I can say right now."

"It's all anyone can say… but it's never the right thing…" I murmured, my vision becoming unfocused as I simply stared, unblinking, in his general direction, "That's all anyone knows how to say…"

"I know," replied in the same quiet tone, "I really do."

I knew he knew. One couldn't live for four hundred years or more and not have suffered losses, both emotional and physical. Dark's family had been the Niwa's and he'd lost many off them in the past three hundred years that they'd been bonded. He couldn't have lived that long and never loved either, surely his loved ones had passed on. Dark probably knew, better than anyone, what I was feeling right now, especially if his other had somehow managed to take a few of those people away from him as _they_ had taken my parents from me.

"Akemi-chan…" Dark began, he was probably looking at me, thrown off by my dazed and emotionless face, "Do you… really not know anyone who might have wanted your parents… gone?"

Slowly my eyes began to focus again, and I wiped away a few tears, before staring up at the Phantom thief before me. I nodded in answer, not really wanting to speak of who it was that had killed my parents, but still knowing, somewhere deep down that I had to. It wouldn't be fair to Dark to keep acting like this, he had his own pain, and I couldn't keep wallowing in my own. It wasn't fair to Daisuke, not Emiko-oba, or Kousuke-oji, or Jii-chan. I had to tell them, even if the words scared me, as simple as they were, as much as they seemed as if they were from a fairy tale.

"Witch Hunters."

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The story is progressing!

Thank you AshleyV6661 and Luckystar14 for reviewing the last chapter =w= So far, you're the only ones making this all worth while, thank you!

I'd like to get a few more reviews people, it helps inspire my creative side. Review! Or I might not update next week =3


	8. Replacing the Pieces

"Witch hunters?" Dark asked, almost as if he didn't believe me.

Nodding, I sat up slowly, "Witch hunters. If witches exist, so do witch hunters. My family dates back to before the Salem Witch Hunts, my mom's maiden name was Osburn, a member of our family was supposedly executed for being discovered, but she escaped…" I shuddered slightly at the thought of execution, it was practically what had happened to my parents, "Witch Hunters are to us, as that blond guy the first night at the museum is to you."

"Oh," his eyes widened in understanding, knowing exactly why I'd had to tell the police that no one could have wanted my parents dead. Magic didn't exist to normal people, to normal people Dark stole for the sake of stealing, to normal people art was probably the safest thing in the world. I was not a normal person, neither was my mother and by marrying her, neither was my father.

I looked at the ground again, looking at all the little bits of the soft carpet. It was distracting, to count the small strands of carpet, but during that distraction, I was still aware of Dark watching me closely, as if he were afraid I would hurt myself, or as if Daisuke were afraid. After a few more minutes, Emiko-oba called him down; it was time for the phantom thief to make his next appearance.

Somehow, I managed to get up and go to school the next morning. Emiko-oba had told my teachers what I'd found out, and instead I was called to the counselor's room before anyone had time to speak to me. The empty look in my eyes was proof enough that something had happened, something they couldn't control or even hope to know about. I sighed, walking toward the office glumly, not wanting to think about what the counselor was going to be saying to me, it was just plain annoying to even think about, let alone have to go through.

Somehow I had made it the counselor's office that day, and every day for the next week. I hadn't been paying much attention to anything. My grades remained the same, but I was worrying people, Emiko-oba, Kousuke-oji, the whole family, everyone at school, hell, Hiiragi had tried to glare at me the first day when I walked into the classroom, but when he saw the empty look in my eyes, even he said nothing. It was just another normal day now, a normal day during my depression. I wasn't doing anything to get out of it because I didn't think I could.

I barely paid enough attention to the world to walk; I had practically stopped speaking altogether save a few words here or there when I was asked a direct question. On occasion Daisuke would try to bring me into conversations with him and his friends, but I never really spoke. I was barely aware of time passing, it just was, but one night… I woke from a nightmare, it was the car crash again, only this time I almost felt it when the car collided with the-

"Akemi-chan!" all I could gather was that I was sobbing and unable to stop. The tears flowed freely and my breath came in ragged gasps, I was holding on to something or someone, but I didn't know who or what. I was calling for my mama and papa, but the only answer I got was the bright light of the other cars and the screeching of our tires as Papa hit the brakes.

A whimper escaped my lips and I shuddered from the memory, but another voice yelled at me, "Akemi-chan!"

Finally my eyes focused and I realized I was holding onto Emiko-oba. Looking up at her with wide, tear filled eyes, I could see the worry she held for me, and it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks; he would come after me next. I couldn't let my aunt, uncle, cousin and grandpa suffer because of what I was. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if they got hurt because I was a witch.

Daisuke was with my uncle and grandfather in the doorway, watching as I clung to Emiko-oba, and after a few minutes I managed to choke out a horrified, "I'm next…" Emiko-oba gasped, but began to run her hand through my hair in a calming manner, hoping to help me calm down. I knew from her sharp intake of breath that Dark had told them of the Witch Hunters.

"No one's going to hurt you, Akemi-chan." Emiko-oba began whispering in my ear, still stroking my hair.

"But… it's not me I'm worried about," my voice was just as low, and I was sure only Emiko-oba could hear it, "It's not me… I'm worried about you."

I looked up at her face, trying to gather what she was feeling, what exactly was going on in her head, but she just smiled and said, "No one is going to hurt anyone in this family! We've got a security system the museum would kill to have, and Dark. Like someone is going to be able to get past him."

When she smiled at me reassuringly, I couldn't help but believe her. This crazy, eccentric woman had never been wrong before, she had told me that guys would hit on me if I was left alone, it happened, she said it was alright for me to go thieving with Dark, it had been. I would just have to trust the strange woman and believe that it would be okay and maybe, just maybe, if we were lucky, the Witch Hunter might have decided that I was just a normal human daughter with no magical powers. I certainly hadn't displayed any in front of others before and there was no magic in the Shirube family, maybe I could pretend to be a normal human.

A normal human that on occasion goes out with a phantom thief to steal magical artworks. Normal would never work, but Emiko-oba had given me an incredibly comforting thought and I felt sleep tugging at me again, only this time, there was no need to fight it. I knew there would be no bad dreams or horrible memories to drag me further into the depression I had been in, and was only now finding a way out of.

"How are you feeling now?" Emiko-oba asked me the next night, when I was certainly looking better as well as feeling better and acting more… alive.

"Much better, thanks to you guys," a small smile formed on my lips and I gave my aunt a quick hug in thanks for all the help she'd been giving me recently. I'd even managed to talk to people at school that day, Mizuho and Kimiko were incredibly happy that I managed to lighten up a little, I hadn't realized that three weeks had gone by, to me it had seemed like only one. The thought of three weeks sent me into a bit of a panic, it had been a long time, long enough that the Witch Hunter was going to make plans, he would have to at least check to see if I was a human who inherited no power from my mother, or a witch. I hoped he would think I was simply a normal human, though the chances were slim.

"Well enough to go thieving tonight?" Emiko-oba asked in a bubbly voice, happy that I was smiling more and acting like a person rather than an empty shell, "I think the fresh air and excitement will be good for you!"

"I'm all up for it," I turned to see Dark, strangely agreeing to this little trip.

"If only I'd manifested in Air," I muttered with a playful frown, "Then I would be able to fly myself rather than having to hitch a ride with you, flyboy."

"Oh look…" he sighed, pretending to be annoyed with me, "She's recovered enough of herself to call me by that annoying little nickname again."

"Be glad I like you enough to even give you one!" I shot back, crossing my arms over my chest and smirking a bit, "Most people don't get nicknames from me."

"I bet the ones who do all love them as much as I do mine…"

"You love it? Really?" I asked, sarcastically ignoring his sarcasm, "I mean, I didn't even have to put any thought into it! It just came to me and suited you perfectly!"

* * *

Well, tell me what you guys think.

I got some great reviews last time, thanks guys ^-^


	9. Air

Over a month had passed since my unfortunate conclusion that Emiko-oba continuously said she didn't believe was the truth, but she still made sure someone went with me everywhere I went anyway. School was hardly a problem, it had actually become a habit to wait in the classroom until Daisuke came to get me, despite the fact that I really would have much rather jumped out the window again, but at least now, I had people to talk to. Mizuho and Kimiko had somehow managed to get the people seated in front and next to me to switch with them and now we would talk even during class. That didn't mean that I didn't want to get outside a bit more, despite the danger.

However, my aunt was much more intelligent than her craziness let on. She seemed to know that I needed some form of excitement in my life and left that to Dark. I was continuously going on steals with him, it was interesting, I could be out in the open and at the same time, perfectly protected. Not that I would really trust Dark with my life, he was strong and all, but if I couldn't trust him with my sanity, my life was little out there. There were a few times, however, where he seemed a little more than annoyed that I was constantly going with him, though, more often than not, it was simply because of my nickname for him and not my actual presence.

"It's amazing how laid back I've become while breaking and entering a museum to steal a priceless work of art," I mused, looking at the other painting while Dark methodically sealed the artwork we were adding to the Niwa's private collection.

"Ha!" he snorted, "You were laid back the first time."

I laughed a little with him and he simply shrugged a small smile playing on his lips, as though he were incredibly relieved about something. After a few moments, he lifted the heavy statuette and placed it into his bag, "It's time to go back th-" A sudden dread filled me, the Air changed, but it was so slight only and animal would have been able to make that change, but behind me I could hear soft human footsteps.

"What is it, Akemi-chan?" Dark asked, turning around and seeing the almost terrified look on my face, "Hey…"

I moved away from the opening and closer to Dark and the center of the room, whispering softly, "Someone's here…"

"Think it's Krad?" he asked, eyes narrowing at the thought of his opposite.

I shook my head and glanced around, the footsteps were coming from multiple directions, a Witch Hunter trick, "It's him…"

"You mean…?" I nodded in response to what he was saying. The entire time, the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end, my breathing slowing down as my heart rate steadily increased. I hated to admit it, but I was scared; I wasn't going to admit it to anyone other than myself though, certainly not Dark and definitely not the one hunting me.

After a few more minutes, the footsteps stopped and a throaty voice echoed around us loudly, "Found another of your kind eh?"

The first time I noticed was he sounded distinctly English, but before I could say another, Dark laughed through his nose once and said arrogantly, "I'm no witch, or wizard for that matter. I'm a Phantom Thief."

"No matter. Use of blasphemous talents is an insult to God," the voice growled, "Phantom Thief or no."

"Even if those so-called blasphemous talents are saving lives?" Dark countered, the arrogant tone never leaving his voice, "Or are you convinced anything your God says is evil, is bad?"

"God did not grant those talents to humans for a reason. Those who obtain them have gone through the Devil and in doing so have revoked their humanity. You and that girl are nothing more than monsters, as was her mother."

I inhaled sharply, my fear quickly turning into anger. I knew the one who would be coming after me would be the same person who killed my parents, but hearing it was another thing, "What of my father? He possessed no supernatural talents."

"He married one of your kind, created a monster as a daughter. That alone is reason enough. He played with the Devil and thus betrayed God."

"Show yourself," I quickly glanced up at Dark, he didn't look arrogant anymore, instead he looked angry. It would have been touching, if I wasn't infuriated myself, that he was angry on my behalf.

Half a second later, a pale man walked into the room from the opening that Dark and I were facing, his hair was short, close cut, and blond. His eyes covered by sunglasses, but he seemed unnaturally tall and well built. His attire was all black, simply jeans and a t-shirt, as if he needed to stay inconspicuous. The thought made me wonder if he'd been tailing me. The Air was so thick with tension that it began to circulate, fluctuating with the magical power that Dark and I were letting off, albeit his was much stronger than my own. Our hair began to flutter slightly with the magically disturbed wind in the silent room. The silence finally broken when Dark took a step toward the man and whispered to me, "Get behind me, Akemi."

I opened my mouth to argue, but I should have just listened. The man barely moved, but his arm had flicked out just slightly and in that instant, a chain wound around my wrist. I let out a cry in shock and pain as it shocked me. The man grinned victoriously, "This is an anti-Witch weapon, it will suck your magical powers dry and send them back to Satan! If you struggle, it will use your powers against you, as a weapon of God."

Pulling my arm toward me only made the pain worse and confirmed his words, I could feel the little magical power I had draining from me, causing me to feel slow and drowsy. My eyelids began to droop as Dark tried to pull the chain from my wrist, but it only resulted in shocking both of us. The Hunter laughed and yanked on the chain, pulling me toward him easily because of my weakened state and his immense strength. Two quick tugs later and he put an arm around my shoulders, holding my back against his chest as he removed a dagger and held it to my throat. He was planning on using me to get to Dark.

I struggled uselessly, pulling at the chain on my wrist, but it was useless, all that was happening was me being shocked by the stupid weapon and Dark watching almost helplessly from afar, though he still looked rather angry. My struggling, however, became weaker and weaker as the chain drained my energy from my body, my breathing, which had grown rapid during my struggle, began to slow, my eyes were almost closed, I was sure I looked absolutely exhausted. I refused to close my eyes though, fearing that if I did, I would never open them again, but that took more effort than it should have. My body grew limp and the man had to hold me up, but he seemed to be able to do that easily enough, finally I whispered, "Who… are you…?"

I could hear the smirk in his deep, throaty voice, "You want to know the name of the man who will end you in the name of God? Fine. I am Damien Allen." I jumped at the sound of the Allen family name, taking yet another sharp intake of breath, "So you've heard of me."

How could anyone from a Witch family, especially one as old as mine, not know the name. The Allen family was as old, if not older than mine, persecuting Witches since the time of the Salem Witch Hunts. This knowledge, that a man from this despicable family was going to kill me as he had my parents, gave me new energy and I began my futile struggle again. The chain hooked on to something, I thought it was the man's pants, or even mine, either way, it would give me something to loosen it on, so I pulled again and again, until I heard something snap.

Then the wind picked up and blew into the man with the force of ton of bricks. The impact missed me completely, but hit as much of him that I wasn't covering. Damien Allen let go and immediately I rushed forward, the chain falling from my wrist as the wind snapped it in two; the chain, not my wrist. A moment later, Dark threw a black feather at the man, sending a wave of electricity through his body as his chain had done to me.

Dark then lifted my stumbling body and flew off faster than he'd ever gone with me before. He was taking the long way around, trying not to lead the man back to the house. It was quiet for a while as he flew to the northern side of Azumano, not exactly the opposite direction, but not close either. When we set down, I dropped into a sitting position, my arms propping my body up, Dark sat next to me, breathing heavily.

"Akemi-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"How'd you do that?"

"Do what?"

"That blast of air!" Dark turned to me, his mouth set in a frown while I blinked at him, confused and unsure of what he was talking about. Finally he took notice of my confusion, "That blast of air was magic, but I didn't do it and it obviously came from you. You might not have been able to sense it because you were the one doing it."

"It couldn't have been me!" I sighed in exasperation, I had confided in Dark, told him how weak of a Witch I was, and now here he is, telling me that some incredibly powerful Air magic was my doing. Annoyed I looked down at my hands, and immediately noticed something was wrong, "My bracelet!"

"What?"

"The white bracelet I had on my right wrist! It's gone!" he was silent, "My mother gave it to me…"

Dark grabbed my hands and a second later mumbled for Daisuke to shut up. He stared at my wrists intensely for a few moments before retrieving a feather from wherever he kept them and touching one of my bracelets, a red one. The feather burst into flames.

"Did your mother ever say anything about the bracelets?"

"Mama only said not to take them off," I answered, confusion evident in my voice, "How come?"

The purple haired phantom looked me in the eye for a moment, leaning toward me, his grip tightening slightly on my wrists, "It's nothing…" he breathed, face inches away from my own.

* * *

Okay.

Tell me what you think ne?


	10. Tension

He suddenly pulled away from me, looking away and letting go while I sat there, eyes wide, heart racing, and face heating up. Quickly I looked down, wondering just what the hell he had been trying to do before Daisuke had so obviously started screaming inside his head. It became silent the second he moved, for me at least. I could only imagine what must have been going on in Dark's head as Daisuke screamed at him and he yelled back. It must be hard, for two souls to inhabit one body.

"_Dark! What were you doing!?"_

"_**I don't know! My body just moved on its own!"**_

"_What do you _mean_ your body moved on its own! You just tried to-"_

"_**Daisuke. Don't say it. I know what I almost did, I don't need you to spell it out for me."**_

"_Obviously you do! That's my cousin Dark! She's got enough happening to her without you… doing… THAT!"_

"_**You make it sound so much worse than it actually is… you know that right?"**_

"_Considering we TECHNICALLY inhabit the SAME body, it's a lot worse than YOU'RE making it seem!"_

"_**Calm down. I couldn't help myself okay. If you want to get all technical, then technically I'm not related to her."**_

"_Dark…"_

"_**Okay okay."**_

"We should… um… go back so Emiko-oba doesn't get worried," I finally whispered, oblivious to the argument inside Dark's head. I looked over at the purple haired thief and a moment later he nodded, lifting me into his arms and taking off. The trip back was entirely silent and not just any kind of silent, but it was the incredibly awkward kind. Almost as soon as we got back, he disappeared into Daisuke's room and Emiko-oba ran up to me, looked after Dark in confusion, then turned back to me, noticed how exhausted I must have looked and immediately start questioning me about what happened.

Having little other choice, I relayed the night's events, almost word for word, leaving out the little… _episode_ with Dark after we had gotten away from the Allen man. I also had to give her some background information on the Allen's and that led to her asking how I knew, which ended up in this huge discussion about witches in the sixteen-nineties.

"So… you're related to an infamous witch from a few hundred years ago?"

"Yeah, her name was Sarah Osburn," I answered tiredly, glancing at the clock in what I hoped was a surreptitious way, it was past four in the morning, "She was supposedly burned at the stake, but she got out of it."

"How?"

"Well…" I kept myself from yawning for a second and tried to make it look as though I were taking a deep breath, preparing for the story. Then Daisuke came down the stairs in his pajamas, "What are you doing up?"

"What do you mean? It's time to get ready for school."

"But I thought it was only a little past four in the morning!" my tired eyes widened with shock and I looked back at the clock again, it hadn't changed at all.

Emiko-oba giggled lightly, "It's broken silly! But I didn't mean to keep you up all night, Akemi-chan. You can tell me more later, for now, go to bed, get some sleep, and I'll call the school and say you won't be going today."

I nodded sleepily and somehow managed to stumble up the stairs, then entire time I could hear Daisuke chastising his mom about keeping me up all night, of course that didn't make it any better or worse, but I couldn't tell if the arguing had stopped or I simply fell asleep the moment my body collapsed onto my bed.

I woke up to the sound of the front door shutting and I assumed that Daisuke was home from school. I was still a bit groggy from sleep, so I took a quick shower. The warm water succeeded in waking me and almost a half an hour later, I was walking into the kitchen, thinking I had only managed to get roughly six hours of sleep.

Where I had expected to see Daisuke, I instead, was greeted by Dark, though he seemed a little different than before, but that didn't stop him from having fun at my expense, "Well well, sleeping beauty has awoken!"

Emiko-oba laughed from behind the stove and soon came over to give me an incredibly ecstatic hug, "Oh! You were asleep for so long! I was beginning to get worried Akemi-chan!"

"But… didn't Daisuke just come home from school?"

Dark snorted in laughter and said, in a slightly mocking tone, "You went to sleep yesterday before he left for school. You've missed two days!"

"What!?" my voice rose in pitch as my eyes widened and I looked to Emiko-oba for confirmation. She simply smiled and nodded, I had been asleep for well over twenty-four hours, "Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

"Because you had nearly all your magical power drained!" Kaito Dark let out one more sigh and launched into an explanation, "The majority of your magical powers were sucked away by that Damien guy's chain. I did some research and found out that most witches rely on their magical energy to replace the physical energy that they don't really have. With how much was drained out of you, you should still be asleep… for the next few days."

"Anyways!" Emiko-oba nearly shouted, sitting down and pulling me into a chair next to her as she changed the subject abruptly, "I want to know more about your relative. Sarah Osburn!"

"And how she got out of being burned at the stake?" my questioned was answered with a simple nod and I wondered why Dark was there, but maybe Emiko-oba just knew something I didn't and because of that wanted him to hear the conversation. So, taking a breath, I began, "Sarah was… an incredibly powerful Witch. She had manifested in all the Elements as one of my kind does every other century. That kind of power is difficult if not impossible to hide from human eyes, she couldn't keep it hidden very long, so she would often cast spells that would make her look old and decrepit, then fake her death and move elsewhere.

"Sarah was actually really young, by our standards, she was middle aged by the times' standards. She was about twenty years old when she met her husband, who had no magical abilities, but was fascinated by them. He loved the thought of magic being real, but he hated that women were being persecuted for it when it was really nothing more than a bunch of idiot girls acting stupid in order to get rid of the people they didn't like!" I huffed a bit, angry over my ancestor's suffering at the hands of what were now called preps, "Some of the girl's really did have mental problems and mineral deficiencies and stuff that would actually cause those problems, but most of the time, it was just stupid people getting rid of eyesores.

"That's how Sarah got caught, she was considered to be an eyesore, but she was really a Witch, and an incredibly powerful one at that. So… when they went to burn her at the stake, she created a homunculus, or a doppelganger. A soulless body that looked exactly like her, then used even more magic to make herself invisible. The fake was burned at the stake and she simply left with her little kid and husband. She packed up and moved west."

"Do you know anything about her manifestation?" Dark asked as soon as I finished talking, "Like… how long it took her to manifest?"

"Mama once said that… she manifested when she was young, but the mood swing thing, the temporary change in personality, happened at a normal age. Her mother was a witch too and somehow sealed her powers off until her seventeenth birthday. She had to learn each power one by one, controlling only half her strength in the element the first time she managed to learn it. Like… an example is… knowing you have to run one hundred miles, so you practice at fifty miles before getting to one hundred."

"You said there was a person like that every other century, has there already been one this century?" my aunt looked at me with a smile on her face, but I was beginning to catch on. They were both planning something, I just didn't know what it was.

"Not that I know of."

* * *

I would have updated last week, but my computer was MIA, I really didn't mean to leave you guys hanging for that long. Gomen ^-^''


	11. Realization

Just like that, they sent me off to bed, saying that I should still be resting from what had happened with Allen. Of course, after I had agreed and lay down to go to sleep, I figured out everything they were getting at downstairs. The simple thought of me, of all people, having manifested in all the elements at an incredibly powerful level was absurd, ridiculous, and after what had happened only a few days ago, I couldn't deny that it was possible.

On my wrists were the bracelets my mother had given me as a child, all but one remained. Two of every color except white. There were two red bracelets, two black ones, two gold, two blue, green and now one white. One for each element and a single silver bracelet, the color the elements made when all used together. I stared at them, unable to deny that as soon as the white bracelet was gone, I had accidentally displayed wind magic that had been previously beyond my level. White was the color for the wind; _Amratil_.

The moment the ancient word for Air went through my mind, a small breeze drifted through the room, ruffling my hair and scattering my schoolwork. The window was closed. I really didn't want to believe it, I didn't want to in any way at all, if I was the person who manifested in all the elements this century… then I had to be incredibly careful from now on about my bracelets; especially if I was right about them sealing my powers. I had no teacher, my mama was gone and Dark used a different kind of magic. I would have to train myself. In secret.

Magic had the potential to be extremely dangerous, especially when it wasn't controlled well, like any ability anyone could have. Unfortunately, not just anyone had this ability. Magic wielders had already been few in number before the hunters had decided it would be a good idea to wipe us all out. Stupid religious nuts. Now, there were even fewer of my kind, the only one I actually knew had been my mother and now the only person who I knew that could also use magic was Dark. It was annoying really, thinking that the guy who's soul was trapped in my cousin's body was the only person I could practice magic with, especially when that cousin got worried easier than a mouse in a lion's den.

Daisuke was going to make this difficult with his good intentions.

"It's impossible to talk with both of you at once…" I sighed, sitting at the kitchen table with Daisuke. We were the only ones home, Emiko-oba and Kousuke-oji had gone out, presumably on a date, while Jii-chan had seemingly disappeared as he supposedly did often. Of course, I needed to talk to both Daisuke and Dark and ironically at the same time, however, that was an impossibility, "Is there any way that one of you will actually tell me what the other is saying?"

Daisuke nodded, confused, which was perfectly understandable, considering I hadn't told him why I needed to talk to both him and his other half, "I'll do it."

"Good. Dark, I know you can hear me, and I know both of you know I _really_ don't want to ask this of you, but I need someone to help me practice my magic."

"Why?" my cousin's response came immediately.

I gave him a look that easily relayed the almost obvious stupidity of the question, "You don't really think it's safe for me to wander about with barely contained magical power, do you? I mean, I'm not exactly the type to think before I act, I could accidentally throw someone through the window with a gust of strangely well aimed Air and no one would be the wiser."

"Okay, okay, I get it, but why Dark?"

"He can use magic. Different magic, but magic nonetheless. Besides, he's a lot more likely to be able to do two things, live through the hell that is me training myself and two get the hell out of the way when things go horribly wrong."

"He wants to know if you think they'll go 'horribly wrong.'"

"I know they will. It's like my own personal curse, whenever I actually try, things go horribly wrong for long periods of time and then… viola! For some strange reason it's like I get infinitely times better over night."

"He said that's ridiculous."

"The truth often is," I grinned, "Does that mean he's going to help me?"

Daisuke sighed slightly and was silent for a few minutes, either waiting for Dark's response or listening to an unnecessarily long one. It was silent for a few long moments, Daisuke's face became thoughtful during that time and once or twice he looked like Dark had said something entertaining. What I wouldn't give to be telepathic at the moment, too bad that was a power restricted to psychics, not witches.

A few more minutes passed before Daisuke finally sighed and said, "He says he'll help, but he has some conditions."

"And they are?"

"The first is… don't kill him on accident," Daisuke sighed, he must have found that as amusing as I did for the same reason.

"I can hardly control accidents, but I won't accidentally do it on purpose if that's what he means," I grinned in response. Dark was being slightly ridiculous.

"Also…" he paused, letting Dark repeat what he had probably said earlier, "He wants you to take off another bracelet when you've mastered the air magic, that way you can move on to another element. Oh, and you'll owe him a piece of pie for this."

"Pie?" I questioned, befuddled, "Why pie?"

My cousin shrugged, "Apparently he likes pie."

"It must be a guy thing," I laughed a bit, standing up and stretching. Daisuke had a confused look on his face, and I wasn't sure if it was because I said pie was a guy thing or if it was because of something Dark had possibly said. That was the most annoying part of knowing someone with two souls trapped in one body, you never really know _what_ they're laughing about, confused about, or making faces at! So I gave him the best serious look I could manage at that moment and asked, "What's that face about this time?"

"Um… how is pie a guy thing?"

I only laughed again.

* * *

Pie apparently is a guy thing. It's good and all but I've noticed some of the guys I know like it WAY too much.


	12. D for Dark or D for Distraction?

"You know, I really don't see how I can be of any help right now. It's bad enough Daisuke gets pissed that we so much as hang out."

"Dark…"

"But if all of this works out, then you're going to be able to fly right?"

"Dark!"

"That would be kind of weird though, someone flying without wings."

"DARK!"

"What?"

"I need to concentrate!"

"Oh, I'll shut up then."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

I sighed in exasperation. A certain phantom thief was enjoying annoying the hell out of me while I was trying to practice my magic. Thus only making it one hundred times more difficult than it would be if he was quiet. And if he wasn't so damned good looking. He is the biggest distraction I know, but there isn't anyone else that can be ready for just about any of the million and a half things that can go wrong while a witch is training. I glanced over at the purple haired thief annoyance, to find him grinning, eyes sparkling mischievously, he was planning something and I frowned unhappily before concentrating again. This time on changing the wind current to head directly at the thief.

"Hey, Akemi-cha-" he was abruptly cut off when the light breeze that had been blowing by redirected and strengthened itself before ramming directly into his stomach, knocking him off the rock he had been perched on. A few moments later the breeze returned to normal and Dark was able to get up again, "What the hell was that for?"

"Being a distraction," I replied airily, "If you would just let me concentrate then I wouldn't have lost control like that."

"Lost control?" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at me, "You just admitted it was on purpose!"

"Yes, I purposefully lost control because you were distracting me and you're doing it again!"

He fell silent immediately, but continued glaring at me, probably because whatever he had been planning had been ruined. Then again, if I knew Dark, he would probably just think of something else, or set his plans back a little bit. He certainly was persistent.

"_Wow, I didn't know she could do that!"_

"_**That's because she couldn't before."**_

"_The bracelets really hold that much power?"_

"_**More, she's got two for each element. I wonder when her mom was going to tell her about it."**_

"_Hmm, that's a good question, I never met Lina-san."_

"_**That was her mom's name? Sounds European."**_

"_Akemi-chan is half American Dark. That's why her eyes are that color."_

"_**Half huh? Nice."**_

"_Dark!"_

"_**I know, I know. I'll leave her alone, okay?"**_

"… _Fine."_

I sat down on the grass, exhausted. Having used up so much magical energy for the first time was downright tiring, but I was getting better with my control over Air. I was almost to the level of someone who had manifested in Air, which made me happy because that meant it wouldn't be long until I could fly on my own! That thought alone put a smile on my face, at least until a shadow fell over me and I had to open my eyes in order to figure what Dark wanted _this_ time.

He was just standing there, watching me, every now and then a strange flicker of emotion would show itself and be gone again. He must have been mentally fighting with my cousin again. I couldn't help but laugh at that, everyone wants alone time and those two were the only people in the world who couldn't even get it in their own mind, that had to suck, "I feel bad for you two."

That seemed to shock both of them out of whatever ridiculous argument they may have been going on about and Dark looked at me like I was insane. The thought may have been valid enough, any other teenager in my position would be feeling too sorry for themselves to realize anyone else's problems. I had already gone through that stage though and my strive for normality was because of that time period where I felt nothing for anything. Of course, it was as though a fast forward button were pressed when Damien Allen decided to make me his prey. He would be in for a shock and a beating next time we met because I certainly wasn't going to handle it the same way. His magic sucking weapon wouldn't get near me if I could blow it away!

"Why would _you_ feel bad for _us_?" Dark finally asked, not moving from where he stood. His feet were a few inches above my head, and he seemed much, much taller now, mostly because I was laying on the ground rather than standing up.

I grinned at his question, "Because, you two can never have any alone time. Every time you think something, whether it's just a passing thought, or an accidental thing, if the other one is awake, they hear it too. Then, especially when Dark thinks of something perverted or stupid, a mental argument starts up and you can get headaches without even making a sound!"

"You make it sound so much worse," he sighed, finally moving and sitting down next to me, "You do have a point though, Daisuke yells at me all the time."

"And I'm sure you deserve it," I laughed, "You probably make fun of him all the time!"

"How'd you know?"

"You just that kind of person, Dark."

"It's nice to know you think so highly of me," he sighed sarcastically.

"It's not that I'm thinking lowly of you, I just know how you are."

"Well then, I guess I should feel flattered that you're thinking of me in the first place!"

"Damn straight you should," I laughed, finally sitting up myself, only to find myself yawning.

Dark let out a low chuckle before standing and offering me a hand, "Come on, it's time to go back. You and Daisuke have to go through that annoying thing called school tomorrow."

"You suffer through it as well."

"Nah, I just sleep through it, until someone starts talking about me."

"You're so conceited!" I shouted, punching his arm lightly, "They could make a comic about this! It would be titled, 'Oh no! My cousin's body is being inhabited by a narcissist!' Poor Daisuke! He can never get away from you!"

"I'm not a narcissist!"

"Just full of yourself?"

"Do you want to walk back?"

"Uh… no thank you!"

* * *

I yawned as I entered the ridiculous room I called a classroom. It looked just like every other classroom, the only difference was some of the objects on this teacher's desk stood out a bit more than some of the things on say… Daisuke's teacher's desk. Unhappily I trudged over to my desk and sat down, immediately followed by Mizu-chan and Kimi-chan. Kimi-chan gave me one look over and said, "Dang, Akemi-chan, you look wiped." She brushed some of her blond hair out of her eyes, "What did you do yesterday?"

Unfortunately I hadn't thought ahead about what I would tell other people when they saw me tired, in fact I seriously thought I would have gotten enough rest, that was a stupid mistake on my part, "I decided to clean my room last night," I finally replied, yawning again, "It took longer than I thought it would."

Mizuho looked at me, almost disbelievingly, but sighed and said, "That was… stupid of you."

"I know," I laughed slightly, "Think you can cover me if I fall asleep? I don't want the teacher throwing erasers at my head."

"Okay, just wake up when we tap you."

"You know I have no control over that!"

"Then get some!"

"Kimi-chaaaaan."

"Stop whining."

"Buuuuut."

"STOP THAT!"

"Hee hee, okay!"

* * *

"Why is Akemi-chan asleep?" a vaguely familiar voice asked in confusion.

"She said she cleaned her room last night and was up late," Kimi-chan's voice replied.

"Was her room like a garbage dump or something?" That was Mizu-chan.

"I don't go in her room…" the first voice asked nervously.

That voice was, "Daisuke!" I mumbled, sitting up, rubbing my eyes.

"Um… Akemi-chan?" he said, laughing slightly, "You have marks on your face from sleeping on the desk."

I rubbed my face furiously, "Damn! Why didn't someone wake me up earlier!"

"We did, you told us to give you another five minutes."

* * *

Okay, I won't be posting for the next two weeks, most likely anyways.

I have some big tests coming up that I need to study for and then do incredibly well on and all that good stuff. Four Hour long tests are nothing to go into unprepared... meaning... for me anyway... that I have to do two things. The first would be wake up before the test actually starts and the second would be glance at the textbook once or twice xD


	13. Krad

"Maybe you shouldn't practice until so late?" Daisuke offered on the walk from the station to the house. My eyes were half closed and I kept stumbling along, almost like a drunk except it was more my legs were wobbling than it was my eyes not seeing straight. That didn't keep my poor younger cousin from guiding me along by the elbow.

"School can bite me for the next two weeks alright?" I murmured, letting him drag me along, "When I have to be awake to answer questions is when I can cut down."

I'm not sure it actually sounded like that I was trying to say, mostly because I was tired and my mouth just wasn't moving and shaping the words as I wanted it to. That was not very nice, I made a mental note to talk with my mouth later.

"Then at least take a nap before you have to go stealing with Dark?" he sighed and I grinned and nodded stupidly. A nap sounded really nice right then. With another sigh, Daisuke led me up the steps and nearly pushed me into my room, though coming from Daisuke it wasn't really a push, but a helpful nudge to make sure I was still going in the right direction.

By the time I had woken up and finished my homework, it was time to leave. I had gotten dressed into one of the many outfits Emiko-oba had set out for me before doing my homework, mostly because it would only take a few minutes. I'd already gone over the same stuff at my old school. I shook my head, not wanting to think about it anymore, my old life was gone. It had already been a few months, I should have been over it, but I wasn't. I was still emotionally unstable, unable to control my magic and above all that… still a teenage girl. I knew I wasn't supposed to be able to handle all of it yet, but I wanted to be able to take care of all the annoying emotions that accompanied the huge change in my life. I wanted to be able to take care of all the emotions on my own.

I wanted to, but I couldn't.

"Oi! Akemi-chan!" Dark yelled from downstairs, "Hurry up! It's time to go!" With a soft sigh I stood up and went downstairs, clad in the loose silky black pants, tank top and strange ballerina-slipper-gloves that Emiko-oba had decided on for tonight's steal.

"Tonight, you're stealing the _Dragon's Epitaph_." Emiko-oba announced as soon as I entered the kitchen, "It was just excavated from the ruins that Dark discovered by the shore. Actually, excavated is the wrong word, it's still there, so it was only recently discovered. It's a stone tablet that has strange carvings on it."

"It's said to be able to transport the powers of a dragon to whomever reads the tablet," Jii-chan took over, "The language is lost to us now, but the tablet still holds a great and very dangerous power. We need to seal it before the magic loses control and goes haywire!"

"Hear that Dark?" I asked, "That means even if you can read that ancient language, don't do it."

"Well, I am awesome enough already."

"And old enough to be able to read ancient writing."

"Hey!"

"So this is the place?" I asked looking around. The ruins were pretty much how they were supposed to be, ruined and since they were in a cave by the seashore, it was pretty damp and cold. I didn't like it, it made the Air heavier and hard to move and since that was the only element I was currently adept in I felt dissatisfied; I wouldn't be able to test the limits of my newfound ability!

Dark nodded walking forward casually, like he owned the ruins and I smirked at that thought; with all the crap he pulled any place he owned would end up in ruins. Somehow I managed not to laugh aloud though I certainly walked slightly slower because it was a rather funny image to picture.

"About how far in do you think it is?" I questioned, breaking the strange silence between us. There were no security cameras and we had easily bypassed all the police-man surrounding the entrance, they hadn't even noticed we'd gotten by them yet. Which was nice in its own way.

Dark let out a soft snort of laughter, "As far back as we can go, obviously. They just found it."

I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest and trying to sound offended, I was pretty good at that, "Sorry that I wasn't listening as well as I should be. For someone who's main activity is sleeping throughout the entire day I'm amazed you've managed to concentrate so well after such a grueling task."

He glanced back at me and held up his hands in a defensive manner, "Hey hey, no need to get so touchy."

"_Dark, stop offending my cousin! That's rude!"_

"_**It's not like I knew it was going to offend her."**_

"_Well now you do. So be more careful."_

"_**Could be worse."**_

"_How…?"_

"_**She's a teenage girl Dai, she could get emotional."**_

I frowned, the slightly distant look on Dark's face meant he was having another conversation with Daisuke, not that I minded the two talking, but it seemed kind of… stupid to get deeply involved in any conversation while on a heist. That's just my opinion though. I could be wrong, but I probably wasn't since they got away with it in bad horror movies and bad horror movies were the exact opposite of real life. However, I had a severe lack of common sense so it's quite possible that bad horror movies are the truth because of something that I was probably ignoring.

During Dark's conversation with my cousin and my mental tangent, we managed to walk relatively far and I could now see a few shut off lanterns littered about, probably waiting for the people to come back and pick them up. So, because my hands were gloved, I picked one up, switched it on, and walked ahead, after all I was now the source of light. Funny as that sounded at the moment. It only took a few more minutes to reach the end of the tunnel like ruins. Embedded into the wall was a stone pedestal, next to the pedestal were two, unlit torches and atop that very same stone pedestal was a stone tablet. There were intricate designs swirling about it in straight, evenly spaced rows. I couldn't understand any of it, but it did look similar to the ancient runes that magic had been accompanied with thousands of years ago; I wasn't able to read those either. There was a crudely drawn dragon resting atop each of the top corners. Small green gemstones were inserted to be their eyes. Obviously this was it.

"Well I can't read that." Dark mused, looked rather entertained as he assessed the tablet.

I laughed once through my nose, "Good! You'd be stupid enough to do it!"

"You should really stop being so offensive."

"It's not offensiveness, it's honesty, it comes with manifesting in Air."

"You didn't manifest in Air."

"But with all the other elements sealed, it's like I have and thus, this annoying side-effect. It'll be like that until the other elements are unsealed and balance it all out."

"You're going to be very annoying."

"Yes, I am."

"At least you're willing to admit it."

"I don't really have the choice at the moment."

"Air does that too?"

"Yup, makes me a hell of a lot more talkative too."

"I've noticed. Now shut up so I can get to work."

"Fine."

He frowned and I laughed quietly, falling silent would have been much more efficient and probably more along the lines of what he wanted, but I wasn't lying when I said Air makes a person more talkative, the honesty thing was a bit different, I just couldn't outright lie. Dark turned back to the tablet and held up a feather, chanting something I couldn't hear much less understand and sealing the magic away temporarily. The moment he finished, I jumped forward to lift it, only because I wanted to see if I could, "What are you doing?"

"Hey!" I nearly shouted in surprise, lifting the tablet with ease, "It's not that heavy! I thought it was made of stone!"

"It is."

"Then why is it so light?"

Dark looked perplexed for a moment and finally just shrugged, his final answer being that he did not know, nor care to find out.

Then we heard a pained scream.

Then, "DAAAAARRRRK!"

I smirked, "That your blond fan boy?"

"This isn't the time for that. Get back and try to hide or something."

"Fine," I sighed, doing as I was told; amazingly; there really wasn't any place to hide though, making the entire action rather pointless, but I was at least out of the way when the blond man from months ago came storming down the passage throwing magical feathers about like a machine gun or something. Dark ran forward to meet the blond man who's name I'd never caught.

"You really want your tamer to die, don't you Krad?" Dark growled as their feathers collided. It looked rather badass in person with all the magical energy swirling about, but describing it as a battle of clashing feathers sounded rather… pathetic. As the ridiculous thought came to mind, I proceeded to mentally scold myself for getting distracted by something so stupid during a time as dangerous as this. Their magic was still ten times greater than mine and I had a feeling that even if I unsealed every element at my disposal, the two of them individually would still be stronger than me. That realization alone kept me from stupidly running over in an attempt to help Dark, he could handle it on his own, all I could really do was sit back and watch and hope that I'm not visibly cowering in fear.

Between the two of them, it looked like Krad was possibly overpowering Dark, but that might have been due to the fact that Dark was using his feathers sparingly while Krad was throwing them about as though they were unlimited. Unfortunately the magical energies were creating an Air current of their own and when Krad threw one of his many feathers, it was whisked horribly off balance and struck the floor not even a foot away from where I was crouched next to the pedestal.

I had time to say, "Oh crap." before the floor caved in.

* * *

I may not be updating on a regular basis. Don't blame me, blame college sign ups.

Anyways, I must admit, watching D. N. Angel is awesome, but describing it as battling with feathers seems kind of... wimpy xD


	14. Water

I didn't fall far, maybe two or three feet, just enough to make my feet and legs sting at the sudden impact on stone. The tablet suddenly grew heavy and I fell backwards, letting go of it and it landed in front of me, making an indent on the floor. I stared in silent shock for a moment, my mind suddenly thinking about what would have happened if the _Dragon's Epitaph_ had fallen on me instead of the floor.

"Akemi!" Well, someone noticed I fell.

"I'm fine!" I called back to the surprisingly worried phantom thief, "Focus on him!" I had been incredibly tempted to say focus on blondie, but that might not have boded well for me. At least I was well out of the way now, so I dragged the _Epitaph_ over to the side of the hole I'd fallen through, and sat down, watching through the hole. I couldn't see much more than flashes of light, and I couldn't hear much either other than the occasionally angry yell from one winged man or the other. In all honesty I wanted nothing more than to kick some blond guy butt myself, but being relatively useless at the moment made me decide to train more when I could. Although I knew I still wouldn't be of much help, I could still be of some. Dark conserved his magic much more than Krad did, I didn't fully understand why, but I think Daisuke had something to do with it.

I would have sat there watching without a word for much longer, if I hadn't heard a low rumbling sound over the sounds of fighting coming from above me. I looked down the long, dark passageway and something shimmered. After a few moments a small stream of water had worked its way into the light and I gulped, "Um… Dark?"

"What?"

He sounded annoyed, slightly out of breath and snappish. I didn't really care about that though, "I think this lower level is starting to… flood."

"WHAT!"

"Well there's some water down here and-"

"Then get out!"

I frowned, even with my Air magic, I wouldn't be able to jump or propel myself three feet in the air, the most I'd ever managed was a foot and a half, and I wouldn't be able to do that while carrying the _Epitaph_ that had grown strangely heavy. Then I heard a loud crashing sound followed by splashing and the sound of water running, fast, "No time!" I shouted back to him, picking up the heavy tablet and running as fast as I could, which wasn't very fast, in the direction opposite the water.

I was only running for a minute or two before the water swept me off my feet and the tablet dragged me down, scraping against the stone floor as the water pulled me along. I have absolutely no idea how I managed to hold my breath for so long, but after the ocean water forced me around many corners, ramming me into walls as we went, I heard the muted sound of something breaking. Not knowing what to think, or being able to think about anything other than the lack of air, I didn't do anything. Then there was a loud, yet still muted, crashing sound and the water began to move slower and slower, until I was no longer in the ruins, just slowly sinking towards the bottom of the ocean. In this position a normal person would have let go of the _Epitaph_ and swam for their lives, why I didn't, I'll never know, perhaps I'm just stupid.

Uselessly kicking my legs while trying to figure out which way was up only succeeded in tiring me out. I couldn't hold my breath any longer, and my mouth opened involuntarily, huge bubbles escaping from my mouth and floating in the direction that must have been up. There was a blessing, too bad I had no way of using it. Until I remembered that my mama had sealed away my water magic in a bracelet that was just like the one that sealed Air, only in a different color, deep blue. My vision was beginning to leave me, now I could see less and it was harder to see what little I could, but now that I knew which way was up, I turned my body, until I was able to catch a small glimpse of the moon through the water. The tablet had not yet dragged me so far under the surface that the sky was lost to me, and the moon provided a pale light that barely reached me, but did nonetheless. Using that light, I was able to see the bracelets that remained on my wrist and pick out the one that was most likely to be Water's seal.

Biting through the rubbery plastic, I felt power surge from the seemingly insignificant object, flowing around me in an almost soothing way. But no matter how much magic one knew, how many elements one could command or how well they could command them, normal bodily functions still applied. I still needed air to survive and I was out of time. _I'm sorry… mama… papa…_

My grip loosened on the _Epitaph_ but I didn't quite drop it even as my eyes fluttered closed. Then something tugged on the back of my shirt. Too tired to look back, I simply let whatever it was drag me along.

* * *

Inhaling sharply was painful and followed by a series of painful coughs before salty water forced its way from my stomach, up my throat and out of my mouth. My eyes, nose, mouth and chest burned and ached, my body felt sore and cold. All I wanted was to sleep, but someone or something was yelling and swearing too loudly for me to drift back into the darkness. I wanted to let go of everything, but I didn't know why. I was acutely aware of the pain in my lungs, of the salty taste in my mouth, of my aching arms and legs, of the pounding on the inside of my skull. Finally I opened my eyes, to see deep purple ones looking back with worry, but I couldn't remember who those eyes belonged to, or why they might be worried.

"Come on, Akemi!" I felt two sharp stings on my cheeks and blinked, the memories flooding back now. That's right, I had nearly drowned, I should have drowned, even with Water unsealed I didn't have enough Air in my lungs to keep myself conscious and without being conscious I couldn't have commanded the currents in the water to send me to the surface.

"What…" I sputtered, but the rest of my sentence was cut off my more coughs and I tried to roll over on instinct, but something held me in place, something warm. Deciding warm was better than cold, I pressed closer to whatever it was, shivering.

"You really are an idiot, you know that," the same voice muttered with an relieved sigh, "Why didn't you just let go of the tablet?"

"I d-d-d-don't kn-know."

The warmth got closer when I stuttered, whatever had kept me from turning over held me closer. I felt sick, one half of my body was slowly beginning to warm up while the other half stayed cold and wet and getting colder as wind slapped against me.

When I next woke up, I felt dizzy, but I got dressed and stumbled down the stairs anyway, wondering what had happened the night before. I had a few vague memories of Emiko-oba looking at me worriedly, Dark saying something, then Kousuke-oji coming in to check on me with Jii-chan and Daisuke. The blurring memories only told me that we'd gotten back to the house safely, despite Dark's battle with Krad and mine with the ocean and tablet, but I didn't know if we'd gotten the _Dragon's Epitaph_ back safely.

When I finished stumbling dizzily down the stairs, I faced a very angry looking Emiko-oba, "You had better turn yourself around and march right back up those stairs young lady!"

"But, I have-" I didn't get to finish.

"A fever is what you have! Go back upstairs and go back to sleep! I'll wake you in a few hours so you can eat something, but you are _**not**_ going to school today, do you understand me?" I blinked a few times, I'd never seen Emiko-oba so enraged, it was frightening, so I nodded with wide eyes and turned around to stumble back up the stairs.

I fell asleep quickly enough and Emiko-oba was true to her word. A few hours later, she came into my bedroom with a tray and set it down on my lap, ordering me to eat before leaving the room. On the tray was toast, some soup, water, and two strange looking pills. I ate and as I was finishing off the glass of water after taking the medicine, Kousuke-oji came in, looking as though he were nervous about being in my room. Then again, he had an overall nervous demeanor.

"Hey, Mi-chan." he waved slightly as the door closed behind him with a quiet click.

"Hey, Kousuke-oji," I replied with a small smile, "Um… what's up with Emiko-oba today? She seems really mad."

He sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair, "You don't remember?" I shook my head and he sighed again, "Dark brought you back last night soaking wet and hardly breathing. Emiko-san freaked out you know. You're our niece, our family. We were really worried."

"Oh." For a moment that was all I could say, for a long time I had been determined to lie to myself, to convince myself that my aunt and uncle had taken me in out of sympathy, but it was nothing more than me lying to myself. Both Emiko-oba and Kousuke-oji wouldn't have been worried if it was all for sympathy, they really cared about me and I felt like I had let them down, "I-I'm sorry… I just didn't want to let the tablet go… I didn't want to disappoint you I guess." He frowned at me, "I'm not really sure why I didn't just let go. I should have, but I couldn't, I don't know why."

"You couldn't?" he questioned, one eyebrow raised. It was a strange expression for Kousuke-oji to wear, it didn't suit him at all. When I nodded in confirmation, he got his thinking face on, I mean it. When my uncle starts to think really hard about something, his face gets all serious and he could be looking right at you, only it feels like he can't see you. It's strange, but whenever he does that, he usually comes up with a good answer, "Maybe it was your magic and the magic of the _Epitaph_ calling out to each other. Dragons were said to be of the elements and your magic is too. It might be the _Epitaph_ was calling out to you to unseal it." Like that.

"Why… would it call out to me?"

"Probably because you're the strongest witch around right now." Well now I felt stupid, that was probably the most obvious answer in the world, "You can't unseal it though. You absolutely cannot!"

"Didn't you guys hide it away already?"

"Yes, but it's calls might still be able to reach you."

"But it's not like I knew the _Epitaph _was the reason I couldn't let it go, so how can I be sure that it's the _Epitaph_ next time? If there is one?"

"You won't." he responded in a neutral tone, "But if you feel like something is pulling you toward it, tell anyone in the house. We can all help in some way."

I nodded again, my head starting to get all light and fuzzy, "Okay…"

"Now get some sleep."

"Okay…"

* * *

Well there's the next chapter. Sorry for the late update, I was busy and exhausted so meh .

To all those that review, thanks a lot, I mean it too. It's fun reading all the things you guys have to say, some of them affect how everything will turn out. So... yeah, I wanted to thank you guys ^-^

I'm not entirely sure if chapters will be coming out on time for the next few weeks, just so you know. I've got lots of things happening, one of which being that I graduate in a few weeks so there's that and all the family that comes with it... Just a heads up though.


	15. Friends

"I'm really sorry Emiko-chan." I said, bowing at the waist in front of my aunt, "I won't do anything that stupid again, I promise."

"I forgive you Akemi-chan, it wasn't entirely your fault to begin with, Kousuke-san told me about the tablet's magic calling out to yours. But you do have to promise to tell us if you ever feel like you're being pulled toward the basement, okay?"

"Okay."

"Now go to school."

"Yes ma'am," I sighed, ducking out the door before she could yell at me about how she wasn't old enough to be called ma'am. I was halfway to the trolley before Daisuke caught up with me and I was still laughing a bit. It _was_ funny.

"I'm glad you're feeling better Akemi-chan," my cousin smiled up at me through his bright red bangs. I laughed slightly and he continued, "Don't do something that dangerous again okay?"

"Hmmm…" I murmured in reply, "Too late."

"What did you do!"

"Dai-chan, I'm a witch and I'm me. That's dangerous enough as is! But I can promise that I will try not to do anything _that_ stupid again, okay?"

He frowned as he looked up at me through his red hair, but eventually sighed in defeat, "Fine, but Dark says he'll be watching closely from now on."

"He sounds like a dirty old man," I muttered, darkly before grinning again and saying, "I forgot, he kind of is."

Daisuke laughed with me for a few seconds until he flinched and quieted down, I assumed Dark had started yelling and wreaking havoc in his mind.

When I walked into the classroom I was immediately surrounded, the closest people were my two friends, Kimi-chan and Mizu-chan. I stared at everyone, utterly confused, what had I done to get surrounded by this many people? Last I checked I hadn't even been here to do anything for the last few days, "Um, what's up?"

"Are you alright?" Mizuho asked as Kimiko pushed everyone out of the way so they could lead me to my seat, "When we went to your house the other day, your aunt told us you caught a horrible cold because you almost drowned! WHAT WERE YOU DOING!"

For a second, I actually debated whether or not I should tell them that a phantom thief took me along with him to a cave near the coast and when his arch-nemesis showed up he blew a hole in the floor beneath me so when the water broke through the wall the magical dragon tablet I was holding slowed me down, but it called to my own magical witch powers so I couldn't drop it and it almost killed me until I managed to pull off the bracelet that sealed half my water magic and then the phantom thief guy saved me. Then I realized two things, they would never believe me and if they did they would hate me forever. So I decided to tell the truth, but not completely. I'm a bad liar anyway.

"Well… I was asked to go get something and it had fallen into the water off the pier right, so I dove in to get it, but it was a lot heavier than I thought it would be and I nearly drowned trying to get it to shore." I answered with a smile on my face, acting like it was the most obvious thing in the world and that millions of people did it every day.

"Why would you do that? You should have just said it was long gone!" Kimi-chan sighed, sitting down in her desk while giving me an annoyed look, "Or even if you felt the need to try, you should have realized it was too heavy then given up!"

I shrugged, "What can I say? I'm hard-headed and hate giving up."

Mizu-chan laughed at me and asked, "Did you get whatever it was?"

With a grin I nodded, "Of course, otherwise I would have really drowned and that wouldn't be funny would it?"

"No." grumbled Kimi, "But this will be like a school legend. The determination of the girl who drowned trying to retrieve some unknown object from the waters of the pool at midnight."

"But that's not what happened," I said blankly, "Did you hit your head?"

"Akemi-chan! You don't get it do you? It doesn't matter what really happened, it's going to be a legend five years from now that will live forever, scaring the new people in the school and putting the older kids on edge."

"Alright then," I sighed, suddenly wondering if Kimi knew that her hair was black at the roots and when she would dye it again, or if she would, "What have I missed?"

"Nothing, we were reviewing, but there's a test today and I don't think the teacher's going to let you out of it." Mizuho grinned, her blue eyes flashing with amusement, "All you do in here is sleep after all."

"I make snide remarks on occasion too!"

"Hey, let's hang out after school today." Kimi grinned, changing the subject rapidly; she probably didn't think she would do well on the test.

"I have to ask my aunt first, but I don't think she'll say no. She might make my cousin come along, but he's cool."

"Why do you have to ask?"

"So I don't worry her like I did with the drowning thing," I grinned, "She's kind of mad at me for that."

So my friends had come home with Daisuke and I, so that Emiko-oba would know who I was going to hang out with. Of course, when we walked in the door, Daisuke and I looked about nervously, the Niwa family usually had traps set up for Daisuke, I hadn't come across any because he had always gone through first, but it would be hard to explain to Mizuho and Kimiko. In all honesty, I didn't want to have to explain anything to them, that's why at lunch I had called the house and left a message, telling Emiko-oba and Jii-chan that some friends wanted me to hang out with them, but since no one had answered the phone I would take them to the house. Then I practically begged them to be sure that all the traps were gone.

So far the floor hadn't given out, that was nice, but Dai and I weren't about to let our guard down. As we walked down the hallway, my foot caught on a wire and I almost froze, looking around for whatever trap I had triggered. The closet door burst open, spikes lacing the inside of it, as if hoping we would trip over the wire and fall into the spikes of death. I jumped forward and slammed the door shut before they could see the spikes, but my friends looked at me with raised eyebrows. Kimi-chan was the first to speak, "What's in there?" "Um, nothing really, just some of the stuff that my aunt is giving to the homeless people organization," I answered nervously, glancing at Daisuke, mentally screaming for him to distract them. I got lucky. He tripped over nothing and fell flat on his face, distracting Kimi and Mizu from the deadly closet behind me.

After we got passed the killer-closet, we continued down the stairs, heading toward the kitchen. On the way, Daisuke had to pick up and hide a hammer that had fallen from the ceiling and I had to keep them from seeing a hole in the floor after they had walked over it. The trap had been delayed, so that was nice, but it made a rather loud noise that I blamed on my stomach. Finally we reached the kitchen door, but our luck had run out, "Hey, Akemi," Mizu called in a very confused voice, "Why is there… a banana peel on your floor?"

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, I answered, "Jii-chan might have dropped it, or he's playing pranks again."

"Pranks?" Kimi asked.

"Yeah," Daisuke replied with a nervous laugh, "Jii-chan likes to mess with us."

"So these are your friends!" Emiko-oba shouted as she flung the door open, causing my friends and I to jump back, freaked out by the sudden voice and door flinging, though I expected some deadly contraption to come flying out. Only Daisuke was unfazed, the lucky kid was so used to it that it didn't bother him in the slightest anymore. Emiko-oba's eyes sparkled brightly as she looked from me to Kimi, to Mizu and back to me, "They came looking for you the other day while you were in bed!"

"Um, yeah," Kimi was the first to recover, "We were worried that she didn't show up to school for a while. Especially after how she disappeared for two days a couple of weeks ago."

"She does have a habit of getting ill and missing school," my aunt sighed theatrically, "But in celebration of her recovery you're going to have a girl's day out?"

"Um, yeah, sure." I answered, grinning at my aunt nervously, "So long as nothing bad happens on the way out the door."

"Well, I certainly hope nothing does! Enjoy your day out girls, have some fun for me too!"

* * *

"You're aunt is really nice," Kimi said as we walked out the door.

"Only when she's not mad," I replied, laughing. I was silently glad Daisuke had gone to disable the traps while Emiko-oba had been talking to my friends and I, I don't think I would have been able to handle all the traps on my own, "So what are we going to do?"

My two friends looked at each other for a moment before grinning, "Karaoke!" My eyes widened and I mentally groaned, karaoke was not fun, not for me, I couldn't hold a tune to save my life, "Lets invite some guys too."

"Why?" I asked, knowing it would be embarrassing enough without people I didn't know being there.

"Don't you want a boyfriend?" Mizu-chan asked, the look on her face saying that I would be dumb if I didn't want one.

Unfortunately I didn't want one, I was still adjusting to living in Azumano, still adjusting to living with my aunt, uncle, cousin and their grandfather, the new school, the new people, the lack of my parents, the stronger magic, the thieving, of course I didn't know how long it would take a normal person to adjust. I had more on my plate with the magic and thieving and Krad and Witch Hunter, most people didn't have the extra problems that I had, "In all honesty, I don't really want a boyfriend. I don't need any more stress, ya know?"

They looked at my skeptically before Kimi decided to ask, "Have you ever had a boyfriend?"

I nodded, "Yeah, his name was Takeshi, he broke up with me a month before I came here."

Kimi;s eyes widened, like she'd stepped on a land mine, but dating had never been a big deal to me, sure I had dated Takeshi for a few months, but when we had broken up, it had mostly been because he realized I wasn't as into him as he was into me. That and he must have felt a little out of place considering how I was protecting him when it should have been the other way around, but he wasn't good at fighting, not like I was.

I shrugged at her reaction, "It's not a big deal."

"Actually, it kind of is," Mizu, stated, "It's changed all our plans for today! No boys!"

"No boys?" Kimi asked after a second then nodded as if deciding herself, "No boys!"

"Except for the ones that are bound to hit on you two while we're hanging out," I grinned, "But I'm sure I can scare them away."

"Like you did Hiiragi?" they asked in unison.

"Nah, I was nice to him."

* * *

Yeah, really late update, but I had a brain fart for this story and lots of problems beofre the actual brain fart.

There isn't much Dark in this chapter, but you get to know a little more about Akemi and her two friends =3

I know it was a filler chapter, but I figured if anything Akemi needed some down time with all the crap that's been going on with her ^-^'

There will be a lot more happening in the next few chapters though, I guarantee it!


	16. Trapped Part 1

Spending time with Kimiko and Mizuho was probably the most fun and relaxing time I'd had since my parents died and there would be no way that I could ever thank them enough for simply being my friends. Hell, I didn't even know how to express it, especially since I had never been very good at thanking people, my calling was in snide remarks, sarcasm, and hurting people whether it be verbally or physically. So to me, the best way I could thank them, was by not being mean and being there if they ever needed me.

That being said, I really hoped they wouldn't need me tonight or for the next few days. Yesterday I would have loved to spend most of my week off from school with my friends, but circumstances had changed greatly since then and now there was an angry, blond, magical time bomb in front of me, ready to kill me, but at the exact same time knowing that he couldn't if he ever wanted to escape from this place we were stuck in.

It had started as an ordinary day, kept going as an ordinary day, became a day that was ordinary for me, but not for others and finally just turned strange. It started becoming weird during one of the thefts I went on with Dark, this time I was wearing a mask because the cameras in this museum were like those at Disneyland, when they got your face, they got your face in high definition, so I needed a mask to keep my face from being recognized, since Dark was too lazy to take out the cameras.

We were supposed to get a painting of a castle from a fairytale, it really was a beautiful painting; I could have stared at it for hours, especially since the fairies and other creatures in the painting were closely tied to the Earth, like my magic was. As I had stared at the painting, my mind conjured up images of the creatures jumping about and performing their daily lives, but it was all so interesting to me. It would have stayed interesting if a certain blond hadn't come charging through the open doors at Dark, who then decided it would be a good idea to push me out of the way and into the painting.

Literally into the painting.

Now I was stuck inside that castle I had been staring at earlier with a pissed off blond standing next to me, glaring daggers at me. He would have killed me a long time ago if we hadn't heard some spectral voice say that to leave we must be as we were upon entering this painted world. And, much to his chagrin, that meant finding Dark.

"I should just kill you now," he grumbled, following along behind me in an incredibly sulky manner, which was strange, I had expected him to take off through a window, screaming Dark's name with magical white feathers at the ready.

"Try and I swear you will never breathe again," I replied evenly as I continued walked through the castle, "Why are you following me anyways?"

"It's the fastest way to find Dark. Surely he will come looking for you and when he does, I will destroy him."

Now that sounded more like the screaming psychopath I didn't really know. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure that screaming psychopath was right, at least about Dark coming to find me. There were three reasons why I could agree with that logic, the first was that Daisuke would annoy the living hell out of him the entire time he was here, the second was Emiko-oba would probably wring his neck if he went back without me and the third and most important was that he'd probably heard the voice as well and knew that we all had to be together if we wanted to go back. "Well, you do that if you want to be stuck in this castle for eternity. I, however, suspect that there is nothing here worth staying for aside from scenery and if I wanted that I could look at pictures online back in the real world. You're not even going to attack Dark until we're all back in the real world."

"What gives you the confidence to speak to me like that, girl?" he growled, grabbing my shoulder from behind and throwing me into a wall before placing his hand around my throat.

He hadn't blocked off my air supply so I suspected he wasn't going to kill me, but while I knew I should have been scared, I got angry and focused on the air that was flowing in and out of his nose. Cutting it off just as it came out and then doing the same to the air around his mouth when he opened it, "That is what gives me the confidence." I stated harshly, pushing his hand from my throat before continuing, "And it doesn't hurt to know that you don't want to be stuck here. Otherwise you would have killed me an hour ago."

When I stopped with the magic, feeling a little more tired than I'd thought I would, he glared at me before speaking with an incredibly venomous tone, "And what is to stop me from beating you senseless before we get there?"

"Well, I'm just going to guess that by returning as we came then I'm going to have to be conscious when we go back and I'm thinking that if we try to go back bruised then that won't be the way we came in. I'm also going to assume you thought of all of this already or you would have acted." I grumbled, "This would be so much better if I were stuck here by myself, you're so annoying."

"If it weren't advantageous to let you live, I would kill you."

"Yes, I know. You've said that a number of times already." I replied, feeling very much like I was babysitting a homicidal five year old. But while I knew he was thinking about how he couldn't kill me, I was mentally complaining about how I couldn't ditch him and leave him here on his own.

After an hour of walking around without finding anything, I sat down with an annoyed sigh and glanced back at the blond who was glaring at me, "Stand up, I don't have time for you to sit here and rest!"

"Then go look for Dark on your own. My feet hurt and I'm taking a break."

"You're such an infuriating woman."

"And you're a pain in the ass, so we're even. Now shut up! You're whinier than a baby."

"Watch your mouth woman!"

"That's a rather difficult part of the body to watch and I would rather not waste the effort. Let me rest in a quiet environment."

He seemed to have no intention of letting me rest peacefully so I did the only thing I could do in such a situation and cut off the air around my ears. That way I couldn't hear anything, even his annoying comments and snide remarks. The remarks were generally my territory and while I was upset that he was stealing my thunder, I knew that my comments were ten times better than his were and that it was a death wish to poke fun at a homicidal blond. I still couldn't deny that it was humorous to watch him continue yelling at berating me even as I told him that I could not hear him at all.

It took another few minutes before he seemed to stop shouting insults at me and when his mouth finally shut for more than a minute, I let myself hear again and when the annoying plugging of my ears disappeared, replaced with the quiet of the castle, I sighed; how big could this place be? I mean, I couldn't even hear Dark yelling, or anything else for that matter, and I knew he was here somewhere because he had been standing between Krad and I and if the maniac was here with me, then Dark had to be around here somewhere.

When I finally stood up again, Krad began to mutter darkly about how I had taken too long, but I decided to ignore him, only because I knew that I couldn't beat him in a fight and if I could then I wouldn't be able to get out of this ridiculous castle. Though being stuck in this place was seeming more and more like a fate worse than death, especially since I was walking with the worst enemy of the family I was living with, my family, so he was technically my worst enemy, except he wasn't because of Damien Allen, the witch hunter who wanted to kill me because I was born with magical powers. Go figure he would use his religion as an excuse, but then again, most religions didn't accept anything that they didn't want to believe. It took the Catholics until 1992 to finally admit that Galileo was right and our planet _wasn't_ the center of the universe.

_Amazing, _I thought unhappily as I scowled at the never-changing gray stone that made up the ridiculous castle, _I never knew that I ranted mentally about things I can't change in situations like this. Though I really don't get stuck in situations like this-_ And I was off on another mental tangent that must have been some subconscious way of distracting myself from the fact that I was walking around a castle in a painting on the wall of a museum with a blond that wanted to kill a rather good friend of mine and my cousin with him.

"You're leading us in circles woman!" shouted that very destructive force from behind me.

"Well if you want to lead the way then be my f***ing guest!" I shouted back, finally just snapping at him, "After all, it's not like you're being very useful! Unless following someone while insulting them is somehow useful! Because if it is, then we're switching places now, or you can go out that f***ing window right now!" Much to my surprise, his yellow eyes blinked once and his mouth shut, so I managed to take a deep breath, trying to calm myself, "Finally. I can't believe it took me so long to snap."

While I was glaring at everything, I saw a flash a blue around a corner and decided to chase after it, I mean, Dark was wearing black and had purple hair, so who the hell could be wearing blue other than someone who might have some answers. The moment I sped up my pace, Krad did do, shouting about how I was insufferable or something. Ignoring him, I turned the corner and ran right into some kid who seemed as out of place here as I was.

The kid had to have been about Daisuke's age, but something about the way he was glaring at me set him apart from other kids his age, "So you're the one that found Krad."

"I didn't find him, he's stalking me." I replied without thinking, "But that doesn't change the fact that he's right there." The blond was standing a few feet away, staring blanking at the blue haired boy in front of me, while said boy looked at him with a mixture of relief and disgust, which was an odd combination if my opinion. It didn't change the fact that I was now with two people I didn't know and at least one I didn't like, "I take it you two know each other."

"I'm his… tamer, you could say," Little Boy Blue muttered, "As Daisuke is to Dark."

"Then… why is he not in your body?" I asked, deciding rather quickly that it would be a bad idea to hurt the kid for trying to hurt my cousin.

"The magical properties of the painting more than likely sucked in our souls rather than our bodies. I doubt that our bodies are just laying about the museum, but I would assume they are floating about the void between here and the real world. By simply sucking in our souls, Krad and I were separated and I suspect Daisuke and Dark were as well." I frowned, for a little kid, he sure was smart. I don't think I could have come up with that reasoning even if I had a few more hints about how magical artifacts worked.

"Okay, whatever. Think you could take care of blondie so that I don't have to deal with him anymore?" that was about as blunt as I got, and it was pretty blunt.

The kid raised an eyebrow at me then looked back at Krad, "I'm surprised he hasn't killed you yet, despite the ominous warning."

"I have guaranteed that if he tries, he won't be able to breathe, ever again. Now please take your homicidal blond back." I was quite literally going to offer to make a receipt stating the date and time when I had acquired the item from the Castle's resident Wal-Mart for my patience and whatever spare change I had in my pocket. In fact, my hand was already in my pocket, ready to remove the quarter that was still in there.

"If we are to return the way we came, then it may be best to stick together."

"I would rather be separated."

* * *

In the end I lost the argument and got stuck with a psychotic homicidal blond and Little Boy Blue. Life was great. Especially since after another hour we still hadn't found Dark, or Daisuke for that matter. Now, however, Little Boy Blue decided to take over and be the man in charge, while Krad walked right next to him. After a few minutes I came up with an escape plan. The less time I had to spend with these guys the better. I walked in place behind them, letting them think I was still actually following behind and then looked out a nearby window. We were about three stories up, but I was pretty sure I could land with a little bit of Air magic to soften my fall.

As I pulled myself up into the window and got ready to jump, someone grabbed a hold of the back of my shirt and pulled me back in. From my place on the floor I glared up at the crazy blond. "Are you suicidal?" he asked blandly, "If so, wait until we're out of here to kill yourself."

"I wasn't going to kill myself, I could have landed than unharmed, but noooo, you just had to stop me from getting away from you two." I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest and pouting, "Seriously… I know why Dark avoids you."

"It's because he's afraid of my strength," Krad stated, letting go of my collar and standing up straight, "Because he knows that I will win in an all out battle."

"Uh. No." I sighed, standing up as well and brushing the possibly real and imaginary dirt from my pants, "It's because you're annoying, an arrogant, conceited, pompous fool and he cares too much about Daisuke to use that much power." I glared at him, suddenly getting an idea that would hopefully scare him, "I should drain all the water from your eyes and blind you for eternity. Or take all the moisture from your throat so you can never speak again, it would be as easy as cutting off your Air supply."

Little Boy Blue gave me an annoyed look, "Cutting off one's air supply takes a lot of work and tools that are not currently at your disposal."

I smiled knowingly, "Mhm, sure." But the look on Krad's face was one that believed I could do that. Of course, he didn't scared, he got rather angry at me for threatening him instead and now I was almost completely sure that if he didn't kill me the second we got out of the painting, he would do so at a later date, or at least try, but it seemed like the blue guy could keep him in check, despite their current separation.

"However, it seems that we need to keep a closer watch on you." Next thing I know, I was handcuffed to the blue boy.

"Where the hell did you even get those?" I asked in frustrated amazement. The handcuffs had practically appeared out of nowhere and I hadn't even had enough time to register the objects as handcuffs before they were on my wrist and being adjusted on his. In two seconds he was off down the hall, dragging me along behind him. I couldn't even keep him from moving despite being taller and possibly weighing more.

I really hoped he had the key to the handcuffs because I wasn't entirely sure we'd be able to leave with a strange metal attachment to someone who wouldn't be in control of their body when we got back to the real world. Because I didn't want the metal cuffs to bruise or scrape my wrist, I took the chance to practice some magic and created a current of Air between my wrist and the cuffs. It didn't make me any less uncomfortable or keep him from dragging me down the endless hallways, but it did keep the stupid cuff from bruising my wrist.

_It's too bad Dark didn't get stuck with these two instead. That would have been entertaining._

_

* * *

_I think this is the longest chapter I've written so far!

Again, not much Dark, there was going to be and then I changed my mind and deleted all that I'd had written down before.

Tell me what you guys think.


	17. Trapped Part 2

"You know, this isn't a very good idea."

The two of them remained silent, still dragging my unwillingly down the hallway.

"This really isn't very smart of you."

Still they said nothing. By this time I had given up on keeping a steady flow of Air around my wrist, it took too much energy to concentrate the magic and then confine it to such a small space, too much precision. Now the handcuff was dangling about my wrist like a bracelet.

"If this breaks one of my bracelets, it's going to be very bad for you two."

Nothing yet. We had been walking around this castle for three hours now, looking for Dark or Daisuke and there wasn't so much as a flash of red or purple. It was absolutely horrible.

"I'm serious. Breaking the bracelets is bad. Bad things will happen."

The continued to ignore me, dragging me down the hallway and down a flight of stairs, on occasion we would see a door and check that.

"I was told that if you're lost and you stay put, then someone is bound to find you."

Still nothing. I sighed unhappily, finally giving up on talking them out of dragging me around like some forgotten ragdoll. I continued to watch the handcuff on my wrist; it was beginning to scratch away at my red bracelet, the one sealing half my Fire magic. I didn't really want to deal with a random spurt of white hot fire every time I got pissed off, so when I thought the handcuff got too close, I would push it away, but that didn't do too much. Not for the bracelet, not for my hand, not for my aching feet and not for my complaining mind.

I decided to start up again, this time three times louder than an unhappy mumble, "Hey! Morons! This is a BAD idea! Do you hear me! Bad! B-A-D!" Still nothing, so I decided it would be more fun to scream and throw a temper tantrum, especially since the louder I was, the more likely Dark or Daiskue were to hear me and get there pathetic asses over here to get these two morons away from me and the damned handcuff off my wrist. "TAKING ME PRISONER WILL SERVE YOU NO GOOD! FOUL BEAST! UNHAND ME CRETIN!"

I continued shouting random things for a very long time. At some point I ran out of things to shout and said whatever I knew in other languages. By the time I finally switched back to one we all understood, I was yelling random obscenities because I was pissed off again. So proceeded to use every foul word I knew and made up some along the way, "You stupid blue haired son of a b****y F*** #*&# (*#&$( &!#^ )($%* ^$($ !*)#($# #*$&(*#$&( )(#$(#*$#$^#&$^# )(#84029* #*&$( ((%$()#($( #$&$%^*#$*% #*&%^*$ #^%&$(# *%$&* *#$&#*& ^%&#$^*"

Finally we heard something other than my relentless screaming. Something that made me stop yelling. It was my name. "Akemi-chan! Is that you?"

"Yeah!" I shouted back to who I assumed to be Daisuke, "Now get your ass up here and help me!"

There was the sound of shoes on stone at a faster pace than I had become accustomed to and a moment later, Daisuke practically came flying around the corner, eyes wide at the scene in front of him. Right after I had started yelling for Daisuke to run over, Krad had finally had enough of my yelling and clamped his hand over my mouth. Except, in order for him to do that and keep me from getting away to shout some more he had to hold me to his chest, keeping his hand clamped over my mouth as tightly as he could.

If it were someone I knew well enough to know that they washed their hands on a regular basis, I would have licked their hand outright, but I didn't trust Krad, so I wasn't going to lick his hand. Thus, my poor younger cousin stumbled upon what looked like a kidnapping, "Krad! Let her go!" I was touched, my cousin was going to try to protect me. Too bad it wouldn't work. I still had enough Magic strength left over to pull something else off, something that wasn't quite big enough to drain me completely, but would certainly tire me out a bit. I took a deep breath and then focused on the air in my lungs before forcing it out of my mouth at a speed that was magically enhanced. Krad's hand went flying from my mouth and I took a few steps away from him, taking a few more deep breaths to replace the massive amount of Air that had left my lungs. Though I couldn't get too far away, I was still handcuffed to Little Boy Blue.

Daisuke took one look at the handcuffs and paled considerably. Raising an eyebrow I was about to ask what happened, when Dark came running around the corner behind Krad. I didn't have to ask what was wrong anymore, instead I blanched as well. This was not going to turn out well. From where Dark was standing, he would see and angry looking Krad who had clenched his fist and looked very threatening right now, glaring at me, who was handcuffed to the blue haired kid, Krad's partner in crime with a very pale Daisuke beside me.

I looked over at the blue haired kid and said, "I _told_ you this was a bad idea, but _no_ you just didn't want to listen, did you?" Dark was still getting closer and the closer her got the angrier he looked, so I turned to Daisuke and whispered, "Think something other than 'oh crap!'"

"What?"

"Oh, nevermind. DARK DON'T KILL ANYONE!" I shouted hurriedly, "Little Boy Blue, get these damned cuffs off. Now."

I'm not exactly sure what had happened just then. I was tired from using the Air magic on Krad so many times, but when Dark didn't slow down at all and blue boy removed the handcuffs, there was a bright flash of light and we were back in the museum. Daisuke and the Blue Kid were standing there, Daisuke looking as confused as I was and the other kid, who finally introduced himself as Satoshi, went into some boring explanation about why we were back already. I knew most of what he said, but I got the feeling someone would have to translate the complicated words for Dai and Dark. Luckily, the kid said he lost and because it was mainly my fault we were all back so soon that he would let us have the paining. For some reason, I didn't think that's what he really wanted to say. I think he was just glad that he was out of the picture and didn't want it around anymore because of how bothersome it was in there.

When he left, Daisuke turned back into Dark and I looked at him and said, "This was the worst theft ever."

"Why did he handcuff you?"

"I tried to jump out the third story window."

He just stared at me, a little shocked that I would have thrown myself out such a high window, then it seemed like he remembered my Air magic and shook his head with a small smile, "Were you a handful?"

"Oh yeah," I replied grinning as he proceeded to take the painting down and put it in the container we had brought specifically for it, "You're going to love this. I cussed Krad out."

Dark stopped what he was doing for a second and looked up at me, disbelief written all over his face, clear as Sharpie, "Oh really?"

I nodded happily, "Yeah, when we first went through, I was stuck with him and he decided sticking with me would be the fastest way to find you and he went on some evil video game boss rant, so I told him to shut up in a very colorful way."

"And he didn't kill you?"

"He tried to choke me, but I cut off his Air supply and guaranteed him he would never breathe again if he tried."

"Wow," he laughing, actually looking impressed, "Anything else?"

"Told him to jump out a window." I grinned and Dark sighed, but it was even funnier now that the annoying, homicidal, psychotic blond was complaining behind me as I searched for his worst enemy. Go figure though, I would just get that lucky, "You seem a little out of it."

Dark let out another sigh before hoisting the, now sealed, painting onto his back and picking me up so we could fly on out of the museum, "It's a little strange being face to face with someone who's normally only in my mind. That and being trapped in there was a strain on my power."

I blinked at him in confusion, "Maybe _that_ was why Krad didn't kill me. If being there was a strain on your power, then it's possible it was a strain on his as well." By now, the adrenaline rush was wearing off and despite that a whole bunch had happened only a few minutes ago, being awake all day, running through hallways, being annoyed for what felt like hours on end and using a good amount of magic was beginning to take its toll on me. I was tired, but I was determined to stay awake, at least until I could collapse upon my own bed and not have to deal with people trying to wake me up for a while.

Dark only nodded in response to my comment, so he must have noticed the way my eyelids were drooping and how I was trying to hide it, but wasn't doing a very good job. He didn't say anything for the entire flight home, so I decided that he must have been a lot more tired than he let on. Daisuke was probably just as exhausted and I began to wonder just how long Emiko-oba would let us sleep before she decided it was time to get all the juicy details of our adventure. Maybe I could get away with telling her a few details as possible, just saying that I talked some smack, used some magic and got really loud and then my story telling would be over and done with for a while, though vague details hardly sated my aunt's desire to know all that had happened every time Dark went on a theft and I went with him.

In all honesty, I still didn't fully understand _why_ Emiko-oba had made me go along with Dark that first time, it made no sense then and the meaning hadn't become any clearer even now. Had she done it on a whim? It was almost impossible to decipher that cryptically eccentric woman, but that didn't mean I loved her any less. She was probably the best aunt a niece could ask for. Hopefully I would never have to admit that to anyone but myself, especially since I'm not really good at expressing any of those heartwarming emotions.

Luckily Emiko-oba decided that we were allowed to go to sleep right away and not even a second after she finished speaking, Dark changed back to Daisuke and the two of use sleepily trudged up the stairs before going out separate ways, focused only on our beds and the promise of sleep.

That night, I dreamed about my parents again, but it wasn't a nightmare, it was a good dream.

_ "Mi-chan! I hope my brother and his family are taking good care of you. How's your cousin and grandpa?"_

_ "You seem so tired, is your aunt making you work? She's not letting you be lazy is she? You know I couldn't stand it when you lazed about the house and did nothing for days on end."_

_ "Are you adjusting well? Do you have any new friends at school?"_

_ "Do you have a boyfriend? That last one was horrible. Dumping __**my**__ daughter? What in the world was he thinking?"_

_ "That's right! He has no idea what he let slip through his fingers, but it doesn't matter, he wasn't worthy of you anyway. I'm sure you'll eventually find someone even Daddy approves of."_

_ "You might want to ask your uncle if you think he will, those two were very close, so if anyone would know who he would approve of, it would certainly be Kousuke-san."_

_ "We miss you, you know? Maybe more than you do us, but it seems like you're finally finishing up the grieving process."_

_ "Come visit sometime soon. Bring the rest of the family too."_

When I woke up, I stared at the ceiling, wondering if my parents had really just spoken to me in my dreams, or if it was my tired imagination trying to fill up some of the space that would never be filled. I could still see their smiling faces, the proud looks in their eyes every time I won an award, be it for school, sports, or an eating contest. I could still hear them laughing with me, at me, scolding me, teasing me, teasing each other. I missed them still, I probably always would, but Papa had been right, I was almost finished grieving, the last thing I needed was some form of closure.

Now there were two things I needed to do, visit my parent's graves and make sure that Damien Allen would stop trying to kill me. As much as I loved my parents, I knew that I was much too young to join them, that would have to wait for a very long time.

* * *

I had a bit of a brain fart with this Chapter, but meh, I think I got the kinks straightened out a bit.

Review please =3 They make me happy!


	18. Visit

I went downstairs in the morning, prepared to ask Emiko-oba if I could go visit my parents' graves. I didn't think she would say no, that would be a ridiculous fear, but I was worried that Damien Allen would be waiting there for me, just because I was bound to go there eventually. However, since the last time Dark and I fought with him, I'd gotten a lot stronger. I had Air and Water now and I'd been practicing with both. Plus, he had no idea that I'd unlocked my Water Magic yet, so we'd have the element of surprise so long as I remembered to bring a water bottle with me.

The second I entered the kitchen, my aunt gave me a quick hug before grabbing my arm and dragging me out the front door, "We're going shopping today! Come on Akemi-chan!"

It took a while for me to come to my senses afterward, I hadn't been expecting her to nearly pull my arm from its socket as she pulled me down the street and onto the trolley, chatting excitedly about something she'd seen on the television that morning. By the time I had fully rubbed the pain from my right arm, the trolley had stopped and Emiko-oba grabbed my left arm and dragged me off the trolley and over to the market place.

I stared at the woman in shock for a while, wondering what was wrong with her and why she was sacrificing my arms for whatever cause it was that she was sacrificing them for. Before I could ask though, we were in some random super market and she had me pushing a cart as she filled it with all manner of random foodstuffs. I sighed silently, "Um, Emiko-cha—"

"Watermelon is on sale! Let's get some! Over here Akemi-chan! Over here!"

Blinking away my confusion, I sighed and wheeled the cart over to my aunt, letting her pile in the large melons before heading over somewhere else. Following her was a hassle; as soon as I caught up to her, she would see something else she wanted or needed and run off after dumping whatever was in her arms into the cart. It was becoming ridiculous.

When we finally left the store, I didn't think we'd be able to carry everything, but somehow that insane woman managed. Until she decided to buy a giant wagon so we could just throw stuff inside that and keep walking. I, of course, had to pull that incredibly heavy wagon, for the next three hours. Every time I wanted to ask her if I could visit my parents, she saw something else, got distracted, ran off, or changed the subject the moment I opened my mouth. It was pretty disheartening.

It was hours before Emiko-oba decided we could sit down and take a break. I would have never thought a wooden park bench could have been quite so comfortable before, but my aching feet and arms told me otherwise. The bright sun shone overhead, it's heat beating down on my scalp as my aunt once again saw something she wanted and ran off, telling me to wait there for a moment.

With a content sigh, I agreed and closed my eyes, tilting my head back. The sunlight could still be seen through the thin skin of my eyelids and I let myself be entertained by nothing, just staring at the orange-red inside of my eyelids, waiting for my aunt to return so I could finally ask her the question I'd been trying to ask all day. I couldn't deny though, that it was nice to have a day off again, to do completely normal things like grocery shopping with my aunt, to feel my feet and arms aching because carrying too much rather than having my whole body ache because of Magic. It was nice to be normal, even if it only lasted a few moments.

"Akemi-chan!" My aunt shouted, her voice growing closer as she called my name. She was next to me by the time she finished and I had opened my eyes to see her smiling at me, holding out an ice-cream cone, "Here!"

"Thanks, Emiko-chan." I replied with a smile. The ice-cream was really good, especially in the stifling heat, good enough to make me forget about asking her something really important for a little while. I just couldn't think of it, but it was just so hot and I was so tired that the ice-cream was just way more important at the moment.

"Where's the wagon?" I asked, looking around. I'd left it right next to me, but now it was gone.

My aunt just smiled and said, "I called the house and had Dai and Dark pick it up. You didn't notice?"

"I must have fallen asleep for a moment or two," I sighed, thinking back, I hadn't even heard anything, but I'd been pretty tired. Though it was no excuse. I got the feeling Dark was never going to let me live this down; it was going to be horrible, absolutely horrid. I hate it when he's right too.

My aunt giggled and for some reason I wasn't surprised that a grown adult would giggle about something that ridiculous, "I also moved the wagon while you had your eyes closed. I wasn't going to let Dark see how cute my niece is when she's practically asleep!"

I didn't reply, I just stared at her blankly, wonder what in that chestnut head could even make her thin Dark gave a damn that his partner in crime was cute, especially when she was only a little above average. It must have been the odd eye color that I got because my mom was American. It didn't really matter though, I didn't really care, "Okay then."

"Come on! It's time to go back!" she grinned, pulling me up by the arm the second I finished my ice-cream and dragging me back toward the trolley, "We've been gone too long! Kouskuke-san is going to get worried!" For some reason I didn't really think that my uncle would get worried, we'd only gone shopping and it wasn't like someone was stupid enough to hit on Emiko-oba. She'd kick their ass, and if she didn't, well I would. Then I got to wondering why she still called her husband with the suffix –san, they had been married for a very long time, wouldn't she had dropped the ending? Most people at school didn't call friends with endings. I didn't use a suffix when talking to Daisuke or Dark; my aunt and uncle were just weird.

* * *

As soon as we walked into the kitchen, I stared around in shock. There were streamers everywhere, balloons, lots of food, and a big banner that said "Welcome to the Family." I blinked at them a few times before asking, "What is this?" Wasn't it a little late to have a welcoming party? I'd been living with them for almost six months now, that's half a year! What was the point in such a late welcoming party?

"It's a welcoming party! We had to wait until you felt like you actually were a part of the family and we wanted you to have let your guard down. It's not as much fun when you expect it!" Jii-chan shouted from the table, where he was sucking down tea and eating cake like all was right with the world.

"You guys are insane, but thanks." I replied with a smile, one of those big grins with closed eyes smiles.

Emiko-oba hugged me almost immediately, followed by Kousuke-oji and Daiskue. Jii-chan took a little while to migrate away from the tea and cake, but he eventually came and gave me a hug too. For a few hours it was just the four of us, talking and goofing off. It was really funny when Jii-chan wanted to play charades and thought he could pull of Madonna. It was an incredibly hilarious image though. I sat at the table watching, chatting with Daisuke for a while, "Jii-chan's pretty limber for an old man!"

Daisuke laughed a little, "Yeah, but I think that's because he used to be a phantom thief too."

"So, Dark's like a family heirloom. Passed from one generation to the next; making him an object rather than a person?"

"He doesn't like that way of putting it," Dai grinned, "He says he's more like a guardian deity, helping the Niwas get away from the cops while saving the ignorant populace from deadly magic."

"You mean dangerous works of art with deadly magical powers of doom?" I asked overdramatically, "Because… that sounds really retarded. Then again, so does the in depth explanation of my Magic, but whatever. It's more fun to make fun of Dark than to make fun of myself."

* * *

A few hours later and we were all piled in a car that Kousuke-oji had mysteriously obtained. Daisuke and I had absolutely no knowledge of where we were going and wouldn't ever have an idea of where we were going until we got there because Emiko-oba had decided it would make the trip all the more fun if we were blindfolded. And for some unknown reason, we all still loved her. It's just impossible to hate that woman.

We were in the car for at least two hours, blind and bored out of our minds. This was a great way to follow up the party, at least, for Emiko-oba. She decided she wanted to play twenty questions with Daisuke and I. Daisuke got them all right because Dark was helping him out though. For the longest time I would guess something and it would be wrong then Daisuke would say whatever Dark told him and he'd get it right. That's not fair.

_**"Alright! We're winning!"**_

_"This isn't fair to Akemi-chan though."_

_**"Then stop answering them as I tell you."**_

_"When you give me the answer I can't think of anything else! Stop answering them!"_

_**"But then I would be bored."**_

_"Dark!"_

_**"If you don't want to hear the answers, then don't listen, but I'm not going to stop being right. It's what I do."**_

_"You're so conceited."_

"We're here!" Emiko-oba sang, opening the car door, "Don't take off the blindfold yet!"

So I sat in the car for a little while longer, staring at the inside of my eyelids because I didn't want to open my eyes and have the fabric from the blindfold get in them. Next thing I knew, Daisuke was whining, there was a spike in the Magical levels of wherever we were and someone was pulling me out of the car. Carrying me around princess style. That was annoying.

"What the hell Dark?" I grumbled.

"How'd you know it was me?"

"No one else makes the Magic level of the surrounding area soar except for blondie and I don't hear any angry screaming, so your fanboy obviously isn't here. Plus, Daisuke can't lift me up and wouldn't try without my permission, the same goes for Kousuke-oji."

"Logic?"

"No," I sighed sarcastically, "It was a completely random guess!"

"You should work on that attitude."

"Did I ruffle your feathers?" I'd been waiting to use that for a very, very long time. It seems really lame, but it's just one of those things you feel like you have to say to the guy who throws around magically enhanced feathers. They make an odd weapon of choice.

He just sighed, probably deciding that it was a bad idea to argue with the blindfolded witch who could block your Air supply. It got really silent for a while; Dark just kept walking and I could hear everyone else's shoes crunching against the grass as they walked. I wondered why I was still blindfolded, but didn't ask because I already knew what Emiko-oba's reply would be. She would tell me it was a surprise and I wasn't allowed to look yet.

So I decided to ask, just to see if I was right, "Why am I still blindfolded?"

"Because it will ruin the surprise! No peeking, Akemi-chan!"

It's a weird feeling to be that right about something.

Finally they stopped walking. It took too long. "I'm going to put you down now, Akemi, be ready to stand."

"Ready."

My feet were slowly lowered, but eventually they were under me and I was standing on my own. Almost as soon as Dark had let go of me completely, Emiko-oba said, "You can take it off now."

I almost let out an exasperated sigh, but withheld it as I removed the thick cotton blindfold. I dropped it a moment later, staring at what was in front of me in a mixture of shock, sadness, and warmth. One large stone slab stood towering before me, etched into it were the worlds: _Lina and Kinsuke Shirube. Loving parents with a magical touch. They remain together, even in death_. I glanced up at Emiko-oba questioningly, how had she known I'd wanted to come here?

She gave me a sad little smile and said, "I just thought it would be nice for you to visit them."

Then Jii-chan whispered in my ear, "She heard you talking in your sleep again."

"Thanks you guys. Thank you so much."

* * *

=w=

I don't have much to say other than sorry it took so damn long to update.


	19. Origins

Tucking a lock of dark hair behind my ear, I blinked up at the middle aged teacher, my own blue-green eyes boring into his narrow dark brown ones, just daring him to ask me whatever question he had again. The man was a little put off by my attitude, unable to say I was being openly defiant, but knowing that lying behind my confused appearance was a very unhappy and tired teenager, "Answer the question on the board, Shirube-san." After a moment of awkward silence he added on reluctantly, "Please." I sighed, but stood anyways and approached the board, my eyes only half open and vision slightly blurred by exhaustion. The problem on the board was simple though, at least for me.

One thing all witches were good at was academics. Something about the way that Magic and the Elements stimulated our mind helped us to solve problems quicker, with less teaching. This new school had just barely caught up to where my old one had left off, but I still didn't feel as though I were learning anything new. At my old school we would review for about five minutes and then be on a new lesson. In this one… we would take a few days to get through a single lesson and spend the next few reviewing. That meant that I really only had to pay attention about one day a week. I was so used to learning quickly that I would read ahead of the teacher in the textbook and have the lesson finished the first day. This school was practically torture.

It was one thing to be burdened by the odd stares of others in the class as I either slept or roused from sleep long enough to answer a question many of them found difficult, but it was another when the teachers began calling home to voice their complaints about my lack of participation. I really didn't want them bugging Emiko-oba and Kousuke-oji, so when I could be bothered enough to remove my face from the desk, I would prove time and again that I had the right to sleep through the lessons. That didn't stop my math teacher from calling home every now and then to ask Emiko-oba if I spent a lot of time studying.

* * *

When the bell rang, signaling that it was finally lunch time, both Mizuho and Kimiko looked at me, then each other and Mizuho asked, "What do you want for lunch, Akemi-chan?"

"I dunno." I mumbled, my head resting on my arms as I looked up at the two of them. Neither of them were tired, but then again, they hadn't spent a good portion of their time stealing magical artifacts gone haywire with a perverted thief followed by practice of Elemental Manipulation. Every teen wonders if they are the only one facing their problems and knows, somewhere deep within the recesses of their mind that they are not, however in my case… I got to spend a little bit of time wondering just how many other teenage witches had lost their parents and mentors and were shipped off to their aunt and uncles house to steal things as community service and not be taught how to channel the magical energies running through their veins. Yeah… one in a million. I let out a defeated sigh, "Something with sugar."

"You can't eat candy for lunch!" Mizuho nearly shouted at me. She was that one friend in a group that was like a mother hen and she pulled it off quite well, "I'll find something for you. You can pay me back later."

I mumbled the affirmative, never lifting my head from my arms. My eyes stung with sleep, it felt like I had a headache, but I knew that I was just tired and my body felt like stone. Perhaps I should take a break from practicing for a night or two. Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed that I was too tired for my own good. Kimi let out an annoyance laced sigh, "I don't know what you've been doing at night, but you should really stop."

"I can't." I murmured, my lips moving sluggishly against my forearm, voice slow and low.

"What are you doing then?" I couldn't see her face, but I could imagine the eyebrow arched above her green eyes.

In all honesty, I really just wanted to tell her I was practicing Magic every day after school and thieving with the Kaito everyone still seemed to be in love with. I wanted to just tell her because I was tired of keeping it from her and Mizuho, but I knew I couldn't tell them, if not for my sake, for theirs. If they knew I was a witch, nothing would stop Allen from going after them too. It was better if they didn't know. That meant I would have to lie. Something I could use quite a bit more practice in, "Um… what's it called… insomnia. Yeah, insomnia."

"You're an insomniac?"

"Sometimes." I replied with a yawn.

* * *

For some odd reason, I was sitting at the table with Emiko-oba, Kousuke-ouji, Jii-chan and Daisuke. Normally one would look upon this scene and think we were getting ready for dinner, only it was about four in the afternoon and there was no food out anywhere. The table was empty. Daisuke looked about as confused as I felt while Kousuke-oji had that soft little smile he always wore plastered to his face, Emiko-oba complete with her large, happy grin and Jii-chan was sipping tea with his eyes closed.

No one said anything for a while, Emoiko-oba made the only noise, a small, secretive giggling as she sat herself down across from me and next to her husband. Now, my aunt was a woman who could not be described as simply eccentric, there wasn't really a word for what she was and that may have been because there was absolutely no living, dead, mythical, make-believe, or anything else like her anywhere. She was both insane and perfectly sane at the same time and she was showing her more insane side by sitting there, with a closed eyed smile, giggling happily to herself. It was an evil giggle, behind which only suffering and destruction could possibly await those brainless enough to ask what was going on. I kept silent; I wasn't going to be the one to break the every more awkward silence surrounding the dining table.

Finally Emiko-oba spoke, "I guess you're wondering why I called you to the table right?" Now I had expectations to fulfill as the trouble, magically incompetent teen, so I fulfilled them by shrugging uninterestedly, but watching my uncle carefully, if anyone was going to give away anything on their face, it would certainly be him. Daisuke on the other hand seemed to play the role of the curious, naïve barely-a-teenager and nodded in response to his mother's question, "Well. I decided that… I wanted to know more about witches! Akemi-chan! Care to share?"

"Huh?"

My uncle let out a small, amused sound before speaking in his normal, uneasy voice, "She wants to know about magic and its history. It's a part of our family, so she wants to know more about how it happened."

"Oh. Well… I guess I can tell you," I frowned, "But… it's only because there's a history of magic in the Niwa family and Damien Allen probably knows about you guys already… Though if he comes up to you, then pretend you don't know what magic is other than fairy tale crap, please. Act as though you have no idea I'ma witch."

"Then he'll only focus on you!" Daisuke immediately argued, "He'll lure you away from us and we won't be able to help you."

"That's her point, Dai." Jii-chan muttered calmly, setting his tea down and trying to look regal, he did however, look incredibly wise at the moment, "She wants us to stay safe, even if it means sacrificing herself." I nodded once, and Jii-chan continued speaking a moment later, "And that's stupid. We're perfectly capable of handling ourselves! I too was once a great thief you know! Now spill it!"

I raised an eyebrow at the old man as he contently went back to sipping his tea. After letting out a small, almost annoyed sigh, I started telling them what I knew, "My kind of magic first came about in Ancient Rome. While the Emperor was away on a war campaign a group of people created an organization to confront him upon his return and steal his throne. They had good reason though, something about him being a cruel, sadistic ass—"

"Akemi-chan!" My aunt looked horrified, "Don't talk like that!"

"Sorry, it's part of my manifestation in magic. Since I'm still in the process of unsealing and learning, it's like my manifestation period has been lengthened." She gave me a look and I sighed, "Fine, I'll _try_ not to speak such vulgar words." I was kind of sarcastic, but she smiled anyway and told me to continue, "Okay… well this group of people was mostly made up of men. Apparently they were conversing, or trying to converse with their Pagan gods and whatnot. I'm not really too sure on that part. But one day someone's daughter followed them and interrupted a ritual they were performing, asking for the strength to defeat the emperor. A voice yelled out that it would grant the power to the one that did not want it and boom, something flew into the little girl. Of course, she ran away before her dad could see her there, but she was so scared that she ran off into a forest for a few days. While she was there, she supposedly spoke to numerous mythical creatures that decided to protect and love her. They taught her all the important lessons that only they knew, because they didn't live for power like human kind.

"When she went back to her real family, well her dad figured out that she was the one the god or whatever gave power to. So, he tried to use her to take down the emperor. Except the mythical creatures she met in the forest came to her aide and took her away from the Human world. She grew up in nature. That's supposedly why our Magic is elemental and stronger and more often found in women."

Emiko-oba didn't look convince at all, "That story seems a little…"

"You don't have to worry about offending me. I didn't make up the story. That's just one of them though, the first one that came into my head." My aunt frowned, like I should have told her the immediate truth instead, but that was just it, "There are dozens of similar stories, the only similarities between them all would the time period and a young girl in a forest being raised by mythical creatures. Another involves ancient Japan and the Tengu. Another about China and the Moon Goddess and the Sun God having a daughter. There's a story for every culture imaginable." I sighed, and stretched out my arms with a bored yawn, "All I can say is that all the stories bring up a young girl, something mythical and growing up in nature. That's it. Mom and I liked to think that it was because each culture had a witch in it, that it was just something that happened because it had to.

"Then there's the church's belief. That all witches were born human and went to the devil for power, then taught their children to do the same. That, however, is bogus, because I never met a devil and neither did my mother."

Kousuke-oji sighed a bit, giving me a look that said I really hadn't needed to add on that last sentence because it was painfully obvious, but oh well.

* * *

Sorry it's kind of short and that it took incredibly long but... I'm running out of inspiration for this story -sigh-

If anyone has any ideas they think would be good, let me know because at this rate... _Two Kinds of Magic_ is going to end up on either a hiatus or discontinued =/


	20. Wait

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, I SAID WAIT DAMMIT!"

"Akemi! Don't talk like that!"

"I'll stop when you WAIT!"

"Fine. Keep talking like that."

"What the f—"

"Akemi-chan!"

"Crap."

"What do you think you're doing using that kind of language?"

"Emiko-o—Emiko-chan! I was going to say fudge! I swear!"

"Don't you swear at me!"

I sighed, looking up at my aunt, who had apparently seen Mizuho and Kimiko dragging me through the town and decided it would be a good idea to find out what was going on. Go figure she brought along Daisuke who was looking at me with a wide-eyed expression. I keep forgetting I don't swear around him, or that much around Dark for that matter. Why? I don't know. I think with plenty of foul language most of the time, but I don't usually use it vocally unless… well unless someone has hold of my arm and they are forcefully pulling me through the busy streets of Azumano. Mizu and Kimi were grinning at the fact that my aunt had just discovered my foul usage of language. Daisuke was still staring at me in a mixture of shock and confusion and I was absolutely sure the phantom thief in his mind; if Dark was awake; was laughing his mental ass off.

Black hair fell in my face as Mizu let go of my arm and I slumped to the ground in defeat, "I'm sorry, Emiko-chan. I won't do it again."

"That sounds very well rehearsed Akemi-chan."

"Uh… it kind of is?" I laughed nervously, not really wanting to meet her eyes, "I say it to teachers all the time."

"Did your parents let you use that kind of language!"

"Um… sometimes."

My aunt's brown eyes grew to an enormous size. Yes, my parents had let me swear all the time, but mostly because I was a witch and when my manifestation started, I ended up being incredibly rebellious. Almost as though I were manifesting in fire; but I wasn't. Ironically that bracelet had yet to be removed, though I had begun practicing Earth and Light magic lately.

"Excuse, Niwa-san, but we're kind of in a hurry," Mizu said with a nervous laugh of her own.

My aunt turned to Daisuke, "Dai, have you ever heard your cousin swear?" Daisuke shook his head truthfully and she nodded, "Then go with them. Tell me if she does it again, alright?"

"Uhh—"

"Good! Bye!" she shouted, waving and walking away as she hummed a happy tune. Something was seriously wrong with my aunt. Daisuke looked at me for two seconds before Kimi grabbed my arm again and continued dragging me around. I protested the entire time. They dragged me to the mall. Normally I would have no problem going out with my friends, but it had been too long since that first encounter with Damien Allen. I was worried that he might choose to attack my friends because they were just that. He might care that they had no knowledge of magic, but the key word there was _might_. He killed my father for marrying my mother and having me, but my dad had known all about my mom's magic and the history of witches.

The second reason for my worry was... consider it a precognitive ability. It's something that witches inherit from the very magic they're bonded with, the nature of the Elements themselves. It's usually nothing more than an uneasy feeling that can pass as nervousness, but that feeling of butterflies in the stomach was often accompanied by a tingling sensation in the chest, just to the right of the heart, dead center, the core of the being. My mom liked to call it a magical chakra point that was only present in witches, but I think of it as a ball of power deep inside of us, one that sends out the pulses of energy necessary for our magic to work. When the core of our power starts feeling a little weird, we know something is going to happen. Most of the time, we keep quiet about it, as I was doing, and it would always seem as normal as a regular human saying, "I knew something bad was going to happen today." After something bad happened. Only our feeling of something bad happening was usually a little more reliable.

This is how it works. When some form of harm is likely to come to us, we feel it, especially if it's planned, because to harm those whom wield the wrath of nature, is the same as attacking nature itself and so nature, through warns those who protect it, through the magic at the core of their being. It could also be called instinct, it's like how the deer sense the wolf is near. Witch Hunters have found ways to get around this precognitive sense we witches have, but I suspected that Damien Allen had assumed a multitude of things.

His assumptions should be as follows:

1. I have manifested in Air magic

2. My precognitive sense is underdeveloped due to my young age

3. Either no one will believe that my bad feeling is right, or I won't tell anyone

4. Even if I do have the feeling and people believe me about it, he, like all witch hunters, believes he's omnipotent because his god is always with him.

He's wrong. About everything; almost. I have not Manifested solely in Air magic. My precognitive sense is perfectly developed (for my age). I would soon be telling Daisuke about the feeling and by default Dark, both of whom would believe me so long as I explain it all. He is not omnipotent, or all-powerful, the simple fact of the matter is that he is still human, just as I am, and while he might be stronger than most and have a lot more training than most, he was still vulnerable, with enough power he could still be thrown ten feet into the air. The only thing I wasn't sure about was his god. I don't believe in some supreme being that created the world and all its inhabitants; I haven't seen one. I, like most witches, believe in the Elements themselves, we believe in nature. Many used to be vegetarians, but I also believe in the food chain and so I will eat meat. I can't believe in something or someone that lets people go around killing others because they're different either. So either that almighty being better intervene or I'm going to keep assuming it doesn't exist.

I had woken up in the morning to the butterflies in my tummy and the tingling sensation in my chest. It might have been presumptuous of me to assume that Damien Allen would choose today to do something, but at the same time I did have just cause behind those same assumptions. I hadn't seen anything of the man since his first appearance nearly nine months ago. It was past time for him to make another move.

* * *

Up the escalator, down the escalator, up and down, up and down, up and down, it never ended. As Kimi and Mizu ran from store to store, I vaguely wondered how the down escalator could be considered an escalator, wasn't the world escalator derived from escalate which meant to make bigger, greater, usually like escalating a problem, make the tension rise higher and what not, but somehow you can go down an escalator.

I frowned, why the hell was I thinking about that?

"Oh! Mizu! Come in here with me!" and so Kimi and Mizu disappeared into a party gag store. I took that moment to pull Dai aside.

"Dai, we got a little enormous problem." I told him, not bothering to lower my voice, since it wasn't like anyone was listening to me in particular, especially not with Mizu and Kimi gone. My cousin looked up at me, red eyes wide with his normal amount of confusion and head tilted with the excess that came with me talking, "I think that Allen butthead is going to try something today."

"Um… why?"

"I have a feeling about it."

"Dark says… bull crap."

"I say witch thing. Sometimes we get these warnings from the Elements. I warn you now, he's probably here somewhere."

"Can you sense him like before?" Dai asked, probably at Dark's request. I shook my head in answer and he asked, "Why not?"

"I could sense him before because we were in a nearly empty building. When the people breathing the Air go from two to three I'll notice, or even ten to twelve, but here? There are hundreds of people here. I can't tell when one leaves and another enters."

"So that means."

I looked at my cousin, as seriously as I possibly could and glanced up to see my two friend walking out of the store with a single bag or what seemed to be fireworks and then back to Daisuke, "We're going to have to wait."

* * *

**I know, it's short, but... I wanted to update and let you guys know that I'm not giving up on this story. I've thought of an idea that may serve as CPR for it and will be working on it shortly. This chapter, although short, is like a prelude, but I didn't take the time to be too cryptic about it, so I'm sure you can guess what my idea is.**

**Part of my writer's block was because I had not fully developed all the thoughts behind Akemi's magic and I'm doing so now =3 I'm not sure if you'll be happy or not to know that it's coming out to be incredibly complicated .-.  
**


	21. He's BAACK!

I really hated the idea of ditching my friends, but at the same time I knew it would probably keep them safe for a little while longer and, despite his protests and probably the one's I couldn't hear inside his head, Daisuke agreed to stay with them for a little while after my departure. I had made him promise to stay with them at least until they got home, otherwise I would feel incredibly guilty should anything happen to them. The mall would be closing soon, my plan was to head around the back, to the camera's blind spot and wait there for a certain butt faced blond to make his appearance, claim I was a devil, say something about his god wanting me gone and then… well my plan hadn't really gotten much farther than that. I'd told Daisuke I'd hold him off for a while, at least until Dark showed up, but I'm not entirely sure how that would work. Another part of my plan would be to use only Air magic, keeping the rest of my magic a secret. I really didn't want him knowing I'd manifested in all the magic before I'd mastered most of it and risk him coming at me, full force, probably with other witch hunters at his back. That could be bad. Really bad in fact.

Footsteps sounded behind me, soft and purposeful. When they stopped, it was silent for a while, my back still turned to him and his voice rang out, as strong as it had been before and just as misguided, "in the name of all that is Holy, this time I will destroy you, Air Witch."

"Have you ever thought about just leaving me be?" I asked as I turned around, appearing and sounding much more confident and relaxed than I felt, "It's not like I've ever hurt anyone."

"You are an abomination, something this planet can go without." His eyes were narrowed, that strange weapons in his hands.

Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I noted that the entire situation seemed like something out of a movie. Dark alley-like setting, confident banter, facing each other squarely; all we needed was some awesome music, but I'd left my orchestra at home. "This planet won't last long without Witches to hear its pleas. Your people do nothing more than use your god as an excuse to kill people and have for centuries, you fear my people for one simple reason: we're different. Since we have power you do not have, you feel the need to cast us monsters." I let out an almost annoyed sigh, staring back at him with more assured confidence than I felt, "Who will clean the Air and Water when Humans have cut down all the trees? Who will fertilize the Earth when you have finished poisoning it? Who will call Fire and bring warmth when there's nothing left to burn?"

So it was a few lines that I'd read in a book a few years ago. A witch had once wrote them down and created a book of clever things to say should one be cornered by a witch hunter, then handed it out to the witches she knew. My grandmother had been given a copy that had been handed to my mother and then to me. When I'd first read it, I couldn't wait for the chance to use them, but now… well I wished I didn't have the chance to use them.

"If the world comes to that, it is because god willed it."

"No," I sighed, disregarding the quotes since I couldn't remember any other good ones, "It's because humanity fucked up. Your god handed out free will to all he supposedly created. Doesn't that mean that humanity made its choices and they were bad ones? If it weren't for us humans, then the world wouldn't be in such deep crap."

"You are not worthy of being considered a human, girl. You are a scar upon this world, with powers granted to you and your family by the devil!"

"I've never even seen this devil you keep talking about!"

So, words had proven to be useless, but at least I'd gained myself a little time. It was much better than physically and magically holding him off while I waited for Dark to show up and blast him with his feathers or whatever he would likely do. Damien Allen spun his odd little weapon about by the chain a few times and I began making a better plan. He could easily outrun me, that was for sure, I didn't run track or anything, he could easily overpower me and quite honestly… I didn't think I was capable of killing him and I really didn't like the idea of killing someone. I was still a minor for heaven's sake, murder, whether in self-defense or not, was not on my agenda and whether or not I was strong enough wasn't the problem, I just didn't have the guts to do it.

He flung that weapon at me and I murmured, "_Aztael!_" The Air around me surged forward, flinging the weapon uselessly to the ground and pushing Allen back. Using the ancient word for Air gave the magic more strength and it drained me less than it would had I not used it, that's why people used spells, the words were like a catalyst and had a power of their own to give the magic we called forth. I saw his blue eyes widen from where I stood; he'd not expected my Air magic to be that strong, but I didn't let that bother me, instead I turned and ran a little bit. I knew he could outrun me, but I wasn't trying to get away, nor was I trying to beat him. I was just buying time. Hopefully I would be able to get enough.

I didn't run far, but I turned around a few yards later and had to fling myself to the ground in order to dodge his weapon. I felt the sharp sting of the impact in my palms and knees, but stood anyways, noting unhappily that a few rocks and probably some glass on the ground had cut open my palms slightly. The area around the abrasion was turning bright pink, the few cuts showing a spot or two of blood. Rather than spending a good amount of time staring at my hands in wonder, I looked back up at Damien Allen in time to see him swinging his weapon about again, preparing for another throw. The moment it was airborne, I repeated my chant and sent the thing flying far behind him as I turned and ran again.

Ducking behind a dumpster was not one of my cleaner decisions, but the stench was probably better than letting him find me quickly and send that stupid weapon at me again. My body could still remember what had happened the last time that thing had touched me and I didn't appreciate him somehow draining me of my magical power. I heard his approaching footsteps begin to slow, before he opened his mouth, "Where are you, witchling."

So, he didn't even consider me a fully qualified witch and he was trying to kill me. "_Aztael um gavratic._" I whispered quietly, "What is that weapon you use?" My voice came from multiple directions, not only from where I was hidden. The spell was something my mother had taught me, it required little magical power, but could be incredibly useful. Some people could throw their voices, this was the same idea, but multiplied so one voice was thrown into multiple directions. If anything, it should confuse the witch hunting butt.

"Your bane." He replied.

Well that was certainly helpful. My bane. What the hell was that? I figured as much when it drained me a while back, but that was a real straightforward answer, Mr. Ass. Frowning unhappily from my hiding place, I waited for him to do something, or explain some more, but he didn't, "That was very helpful. Thank you ever so much." The sarcastic sigh sounded as though it were coming from every direction at once and then I released the magic, no longer throwing my voice around uselessly. It looked like there would be some research to be done soon; perhaps Kousuke-oji would be able to help me with that; he _was_ good at finding things out for some reason.

Damien Allen was moving again and as he did, I made my way farther behind the dumpster, being careful not to make a sound. It wasn't as easy as it sounds. The squatting position had begun to lock my leg muscles into place, my thighs burning from the amount of pressure being put on them. Most people don't squat for long periods of time; I sure as hell don't and that meant that the muscles in my legs weren't very strong. They began burning and tightening before two full minutes had passed and I wanted so badly to stand up and get moving, but that wasn't really the best option at the moment.

Maybe I could push the whole dumpster at him? No, I couldn't. The Air in this area was weak with dirt and pollution, not to mention that a dumpster weighed a sizeable amount, nothing I could fling at the man and be able to walk off afterward. Using too much of my own energy would drain me just as surely as his weapon would and if I passed out there would be no waking up again; I wasn't going to chance it.

I could, however, push Damien Allen down. As soon as he seemed far enough away, I darted out from behind the rank container of trash and called up another gust of wind, sending the reeking Air at him. He stumbled and as he did, I threw another one, feeling the mental strain soon after, but he went down and I turned on my hell and ran again. It would take him some precious time to stand up and figure out where I went. So, thinking as quickly as I could, I continued running, passed the first two possible turns I could make, then all but jumping around the third corner.

You see it in movies all the time. Someone runs around the corner and whoever is chasing them ignores said corner completely, but that's stupid. If I were chasing someone who disappeared, I would check around all the damn corners. So, since I was the one running away, the first and second corner seemed a little ridiculous, they would be the first places checked whereas in the time it would take him to check the third corner, I would be either far enough away to be moderately safe, or in position to hit him again.

Just like in a movie… I'd hit a dead end and cursed just how cliché my life was turning out to be. What the hell? I _hate _clichés. Well, the getting away option had been crossed out and shredded, so now I had to get myself in a position to—I had a sudden idea. As quietly as I could, I clambered up onto a different dumpster, this one belonging to a different building, and looked up at the roof. It wasn't _too_ far away. I might be able to push myself up just high enough to grab the edge of the building and pull myself up. I looked at my rather scrawny arms for a moment, shrugged and decided that it was my best bet. As soon as I jumped, I quietly urged the wind to push me up, but the Air here was weak with think as well and I was barely able to get my fingers to grab hold of the building. That wasn't good.

Dropping down would let out a remarkably loud sound, drawing Damien Allen toward me simply because it was a dead giveaway. If I just dangled there until he showed up, I would be an easy target.

"Need a hand?"

Dark landed atop the building, wearing all black and purple, looking as confident as ever. "Yes actually, mine seem to be rather busy at the moment." I grumbled. Talking while holding all your weight by what felt like nothing more than your fingertips wasn't a good idea, the act of holding oneself up was a lot harder than people imagined it to be. Maybe not if someone was a weight lifter and had a good amount of upper body strength, but for a normal person, magically endowed or not, it wasn't as easy as it looked and I wasn't making it look easy.

He took hold of my wrists and pulled me up, letting me sit there for a few moments in order to catch my breath. "Akemi-chan… why do you reek?"

"Oh… I don't know." I panted, "Moving around smelly Air. Hiding behind a dumpster or two."

"Well, at least it doesn't _look_ like he got you."

I scoffed at him, utterly offended, "He hasn't laid a hand on me! Though… I've used a lot more magic than I'm used to. I guess I have to train more." I heaved a sarcastic sigh, "Ah, the strains of witchhood."

"A little egotistic, aren't you?"

"I took a feather from your book. So, what's the plan?" I asked. Looking up at him, I wondered why he hadn't bothered to kneel or squat or even sit in order to keep out of sight. "I'm pretty drained magically, but I could probably knock him down one or two more times."

"Why don't you just throw some rancid water in his eyes?"

"Well." I muttered, glaring at the purple haired phantom thief, "That would be because, I want him to believe I've manifested in Air for the time being. If I whip up some Water like that, without using a spell, then he'll figure it out and if I use the spell it'll be too powerful and he'll figure it out."

"Why are you so determined to make him believe you've manifested in air?" Someone seemed rather inquisitive at the moment and I debated questioning whether or not to tell the smirking _Kaito_ that it was hardly the time for questions, but decided against it only because I didn't want him doing something stupid and getting my Witchly Powers of Awesome discovered.

So, I pinched the bridge of my nose, acting like he was nothing more than an ignorant child that needed dealing with. He didn't take it too well, but he kept it down to a scowl rather than an indignant shriek of protest. "If he finds out what I don't want him to know, then it's entirely possible he will show up with other Witch Hunters and we're having problems with just this one. I'd rather not get the family dragged into this either, if you know what I mean."

It seemed to finally dawn on him, "Why didn't I think of that earlier?"

"Ask Dai. He's the only one capable of getting into your brain."

* * *

**Honestly, I'm not entirely sure why it took me so long to get this updated. I wrote most of this chapter today and it was intended to be longer, but I have a night class that drains me mentally. So it ended up being... probably half as long as it was intended to be.**

**In the mean time, I guess I should let you know that I don't know when the next update will be. I do have two other active fanfics that can't be ignored and I tend to get distracted very easily. =/ If I start playing Fire Emblem (which I have) then I can usually think of things only for FE and not other things .-. It's my biggest problem as an author. I'm too easily distracted. Especially by Tetris. .**

**Also, the language that I'm using for Akemi's magic spells is something I've created myself .-. There is little historical accuracy to her witchliness. HOWEVER! There was an Allen family that persecuted witches in colonial times and there was a Sarah Osburn accused of being a witch. However, I'm pretty sure she died and never had kids yadda yadda.**

**Anyways... yeah. Chapter 21 is out and yes, HE'S BA~ACK!  
**


	22. Delusional

A dank, dark alley is no place for a teenage girl, even if said girl is magically endowed with elemental abilities of nearly limitless potential. The key word in that sentence was 'potential' meaning that said magical capabilities have the possibility and opportunity to reach a certain level and continue, but not they were had already reached that level or higher. There were some self-placed boundaries on the magics that I was temporarily unwilling to cross. Regardless, I still stood in the shadowy area behind the mall, frowning in discontent as I waited for the man that wanted to kill me.

"So, Mr. Allen, this bane of mine, care to elaborate?" my voice rang out, loud and strong; much stronger than I felt, reverberating off the walls of the buildings and the concrete floor, each echo reminding me of just how stupid this plan was and believe me, it was stupid, so much so that it had never even obtained the illusion of brilliance as most stupid plans do.

Hopefully simple would be best. Especially considering how Damien Allen believed we of magical inheritance were conniving, backstabbing devils. A straightforward plan should be in my best interest.

Allen's voice finally replied, "Maybe when I have you in my grass and there is no chance of escape." Go figure I'd get the careful guy hunting me. Hunter families must have stopped training their teenagers and letting them out to take on young witches, Their rashness had saved many of my people in times past, but my luck was running out, despite having been mothering more than a mere trickle in the first place.

The blond man stepped around a corner, green eyes on me, narrowed suspiciously, his strange weapon wrapped around his right hand. He was obviously ready to finish this. "Well fine then. What do I have to do, other than die, to get you to leave me alone?"

"There is nothing a monster like you can do. Betrayer's of God do not deserve this world!"

I was tempted to tell him that it was the other way around; that this world didn't deserve my people, the ones who cleansed the world of the impurities brought about my mankind, without us Earth would have been uninhabitable long ago, but I thought better of it. "Then why don't you leave me be and go kill some rapists or something. I haven't done anything to hurt anyone and I don't plan to, unless you keep trying to kill me, then it's only self-defense and I shouldn't be held accountable for that." I was rambling. Something I did when I couldn't think of anything else to do, but I was only supposed to get Allen's full attention and distract him for a time. If conversation couldn't do that, then I was screwed, or in this case dead, quite literally.

"They will all be judged by a higher power." My enemy answered dismissively.

"Then why can't _I_ be judged by a higher power?" I questioned, taking on an exasperated tone. Talking with this guy was tiring, forget about fighting with him.

"Only humans go to Heaven."

"Well, obviously I'm human. You know the saying: If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it's probably a duck? Well I look, walk and talk like a human, so I must be human." He glared at me, unwrapping his weapon from his hand slowly, swinging it about in a deadly fashion, letting me know that I was running out of time. "That's also kind of cruel to adorable puppies and kitties. They never did anything wrong."

Now I was pissing him off. It was understandable. That book that dictated his life, the Bible, did say "Suffer not a witch to live" though Papa _had_ said it was wrongly translated. Go figure. There must be some cosmic law about making my life suck, my life and the lives of all the witches and wizards out there. We just can't catch a break can we? Even in a time where the general public doesn't believe in magic, we get stuck with the Witch Hunters who know it does and don't believe that those who wield it can help the planet. Of course they were _raised_ to believe that, so I couldn't really hold anything against Damien Allen for his beliefs, but I still hated him with an unrivaled passion.

He'd killed my parents. He would attack my friends and the family that I had left and I would do whatever it took to protect them. Everything I possibly could, even if it meant dying to do so; not that I would let anyone else know I was willing to go so far.

"Just accept your fate."

"I thought your book of lies said "Thou shall not kill."

"You wouldn't know. The Holy Book burns your kind."

Okay… my mind went blank at that, I couldn't even think up a retort because I _had_ read small portions of the Bible and despite how annoying I found it, it hadn't burned. Had the Witch Hunters really not grown up after hundreds or years? That was just weird. I mean really, burned by a book? Not gunna happen!

I blinked and he charged, running at me with that odd weapon of his trailing behind him like a deadly metal tail that could be flicked forward at will and drain my magic dry. I took a breath, gathered my concentration, pushing my mind to take in everything, until I could _feel _the Air in the alley, heavy with stink and decay. Then I flung it at his feet, knees, thighs, making it an un-jumpable hurdle. He flicked his weapon at me, but the gale I'd conjured up caught it, flinging it back behind Allen and the witch hunter stumbled, slowed and was carried backward, limbs flailing.

That was when Dark flew down from a rooftop, black feather in his hand. He whispered something to Allen, then raised the ebon feather, it glowed purple for a moment and when it ceased, Allen collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The phantom thief took his weapon, careful to keep the blade from touching his skin, just in case.

"We're good to go now, Akemi-chan." He smirked. "You did pretty good."

And then everything went black.

* * *

I woke often, faces passed through the dark haze of half-slumber, Kousuke-oji, Dai, Emiko-oba, Jii-chan, Mizu and Kimi, a few other faced I didn't recognize, or didn't' remember enough of to name, but they would fade away as quickly as they'd appear. Then it would seem like my parents were visiting me. They were all smiles, but no voiced, they didn't move or attempt to speak, only stood there, smiling, radiating a gentle calm, as though they were proud of me. I hoped they were, though I hadn't really done anything to be proud of yet.

Finally, I opened my eyes and saw the ceiling. After blinking a number of times, I decided that yes, I really was awake and I didn't smell dumpster, another good sign.

Somehow, I'd gotten out of the hell that was the battle with Damien Allen and his delusional beliefs in one piece. Don't get me wrong though, some of the points his religion made were good ones, all religions had their good points, but at the same time, they hid so much and left so many questions unanswered. Mother Earth had nothing to hide, the Elements weren't cosmically powered mythical beings, they just _were_. That's why I believed in Nature, it is alive and real as the Giant Pandas in China (though not as adorable and fluffy). I couldn't believe in some all powerful faceless being that couldn't be defined anymore than the physical appearance of wind. I had too many questions for most established religions, and I wasn't the type to accept "just because" as an answer. Unless someone can express how a phrase created life in the way we see and live it.

"Akemi-chan?" the door cracked open, my uncle's face peering through the gap. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah." My voice was hoarse and cracking. "I need to stop losing consciousness so often. It's pathetic."

My uncle let out a small chuckle as he stepped into the room, looking around uncomfortably before finally taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like an airplane ran me over on the runway before taking off, got in their Air, changed its mind, turned around and landed on me."

Another laugh escaped him. "You're still a master of odd phrases I see."

I smiled a little. "Yeah… Kousuke-oji?" I ventured, feeling the butterflies rising in my belly like carnivorous beasts and wondering why I was so nervous about asking my uncle a stupid question. "What is witch bane?"

His smile faltered, his brown eyes looked sad and I wondered if it hurt for him to think about something that could hurt his family so much, so easily. It took a few moments for him to find the words he needed. "I guess… Witch Bane itself is a form of magic. Your magic, the Elemental kind is what I would call green magic, regardless of how many people would call it any other color, it is magic of Nature, so to me it should be green. There's White Magic, which is what heals illnesses, much like the power of faith, but there is also Black Magic."

"I've heard about that." I croaked tiredly, "Mama said it's what happens when a Witch uses their abilities to harm Nature rather than help it."

My uncle nodded. "Witch Bane is the result of a Witch using their magic to remove Mother Nature from the ore from the metal that makes the Allen family's weapons. That weapon has no Nature in it, so it's trying to get all it can by sucking it out of magic users who have more than they need to live."

"But that would mean that…" I trailed off, staring wide eyed at my uncle.

Kousuke-oji looked distant and sad, probably thinking of his brother and sister-in-law, my parents, our family. "Yes. It would mean that the Witch Hunters have always had a witch on their side."

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**So, here's chapter twenty-two!**

**I should be updating a little more regularly for a while since the semester is almost over and I don't have 1,500 words to write every day for a writing project xD**

**It was certainly a fun project, but seriously time consuming.**

**Anyways, this chapter is a little short, but my brain isn't at full creative capacity just yet.**

**Review please~**


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